Media Contact: 
Will Wiquist, (202) 418-0509
will.wiquist@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release

FCC CALLS ON NETWORK VOICE PROVIDERS TO JOIN EFFORT TO COMBAT ILLEGAL SPOOFED SCAM ROBOCALLS
Enforcement Chief and Chief Technology Officer Wrote to Voice Providers About Helping ‘Traceback’ Efforts to Stop and to Catch Scam Callers
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WASHINGTON, November 6, 2018—The Federal Communications Commission today sent letters to voice providers, calling on them to assist industry efforts to trace scam robocalls that originate on or pass through their networks.  These letters, written by FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold and Chief Technology Officer Eric Burger, were sent to voice providers that are not participating in these “traceback” efforts, including those the FCC has encouraged to do more to guard against illegal traffic.  These traceback efforts assist the FCC in identifying the source of illegal calls.  

“It is vital that public and private stakeholders work together to combat scam calls,” said Chief Harold about the letters.  “It hinders both FCC enforcement and industry call authentication work when companies do not cooperate with traceback efforts.  We must do everything we can to catch and stop scammers, and industry cooperation is vital to achieving that goal.” 

“The industry is helping combat illegal robocalls and spoofing, but more must be done,” said Dr. Burger about the letters.  “We hope all carriers and interconnected VoIP providers will join these traceback efforts and implement tools to speed the traceback process, such as deploying a robust call authentication framework.  In my experience, strong enforcement is the best tool against bad actors, and improved traceback is a critical tool for finding scammers.”

The agency also wrote to USTelecom to thank it for its leadership in the traceback effort.  About two years ago, a broadband industry trade association, USTelecom, formed a group to share information among carriers and providers to help “traceback” the traffic of illegal calls to the originating provider.  Industry participation in this call traceback effort has proved useful in the Commission’s enforcement efforts to combat illegal robocalling and spoofing.  As the FCC and industry move forward on call authentication, consistent participation of all network operators is critical for helping consumers and enforcing the law.

“A critical component of effective enforcement against robocalling and spoofing abuses is to quickly identify the source of the traffic by tracing back the calls to their origination,” wrote Harold and Burger in today’s letters.  “Neither government nor industry, without the active assistance of the other, can hope to stem the flood of scam calls plaguing consumers across the country.”

The FCC receives more consumer complaints about unwanted calls—including scam calls that use spoofing to trick consumers—than any other subject.  The agency uses these complaints and other resources to find bad actors and take action like the agency’s recent enforcement penalties.  Recent enforcement actions include: 

· A record $120 million fine of Florida-based time-share marketing operation which made almost 100 million spoofed calls over a three month period.
· A $82 million fine of a telemarketer which made more than 21 million robocalls to market health insurance.
· A $37.5 million proposed fine of an Arizona marketer which apparently made millions of spoofed calls that appeared to come from consumers.

In addition, the RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018 made clear that laws prohibiting unlawful spoofing apply to calls originating overseas if the recipient is in the United States.  To that end, we strongly encourage companies accepting overseas traffic to do what they can to ensure the number is not unlawfully spoofed.

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This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).