The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken steps to close loopholes in its current regulations regarding spoofing and robocalls.
An Order issued by the Commission in early August implements critical provisions of the so-called RAY BAUM’S Act, passed by the U.S. Congress last year. That Act extends the provisions of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 to include restrictions against malicious caller ID spoofing of text messages, as well as calls originating from international sources and certain additional types of voice calls, including one-way VoIP calls.
The FCC says that, in the last year alone, it issued more than $200 million in forfeitures and proposed nearly $40 million additional in fines related to fraudulent caller ID activity. The Commission also notes that it has already received over 35,000 consumer complaints about caller ID spoofing in the first six months of 2019.
