STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR

Re:	Protecting Consumers from Unauthorized Carrier Charges and Related Unauthorized Charges, CG Docket No. 17-169.

There is no shortage of telemarketing scams.  In fact, the FCC has warned Americans about one scheme in which callers try to coax victims into saying the word “yes” during a recorded call, including by asking them “can you hear me” at the beginning of the conversation.  Scammers will then edit and stitch together the audio of the call so that it sounds like the victim has provided consent to some charge or action.

Often, those recordings are used to carry out two scams that we address today.  “Slamming,” which involves a scammer fraudulently switching a consumer’s voice provider, and “cramming,” which occurs when a scammer places a bogus charge on a consumer’s phone bill.  Recently, we’ve seen an uptick in the type of slamming and cramming cases where fraudsters use those falsified recordings to carry out their scheme.

So I am glad that we are taking aggressive steps today to crack down on such practices.  The rules we codify here will better position the Commission to take action against carriers that engage in slamming and cramming, including through misrepresentations on sales calls.  I also want to thank my colleagues for agreeing to add language to the item that reiterates the serious penalties the FCC can impose for violations of these rules, including the revocation of Commission licenses.  We owe it to consumers to use all of the tools at our disposal to deter these bad actors.

I’m glad to support this Order and thank the staff of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau for their work on it.