FCC Implements New Caller ID to End ‘Annoying’ Robocalls

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Federal Communications Commission is now requiring phone companies to implement caller ID authentication to combat annoying robocalls.
• The technology, known as “STIR/SHAKEN”, allows calls traveling through phone networks to have their caller ID “signed” as legitimate and validated by other carriers before they get to consumers.
• Wireless companies that will not follow the FCC’s requirements may be subject to penalties.

Those annoying robocalls about the car warranty you never had may finally be coming to an end.

Starting Tuesday, wireless phone providers in the U.S. must implement an industry-standard caller ID authentication technology called STIR/SHAKEN, which “helps protect consumers against malicious spoofed robocalls and helps law enforcement track bad actors,” the FCC said in a news release.

According to the release, the technology allows calls traveling through phone networks to have their caller ID “signed” as legitimate, then validated by other carriers before they get to consumers.

If wireless companies do not follow the commission’s requirements, they may be subject to penalties, CBS News reported.

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC regulation is meant to stop phone scams, which can often trick people into giving up large sums of money.

“What that means is when a call is being made, a carrier can tell that it really is the person who they say they are on the line,” she told CBS News.

As the Federal Trade Commission explains, these scams can often trick someone into forking over their life savings over the course of a short phone call. Some of the scams include a caller pretending to be law enforcement or someone from a federal agency, then attempting to scare the person on the other line by threatening them with arrest or deportation if they don’t pay outstanding debt.

Another involves a scammer informing someone they won a prize, such as a lottery. In order to claim the prize, though, the would-be recipient has to send money first.

These schemes run far and wide and include debt relief, charity, and credit repair scams, and the “extended car warranty” scam that urges consumers to purchase overpriced service contracts.

According to YouMail, a robocall index, 22 billion robocalls were placed in the U.S. in 2021 alone.

“Oh my gosh, they’re so annoying,” Rosenworcel told CBS News of the calls. “We want to stop robocalls and make it easier for consumers to safely answer the phone.”

The outlet reported any carriers who did not report to the FCC could see their calls blocked in September.

Source: PEOPLE