Consumer group: More telephone companies should protect consumers from robocalls
Three years after laws went into effect to protect consumers from robocalls, a public interest advocacy group says less than half of phone companies are in compliance.
That means many consumers are still subject to annoying robocalls and robotexts, which also makes them more susceptible to scams, said the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
While scam robocalls and illegal telemarketing calls have dropped by 17% since a federal law was implemented in 2021 requiring phone companies to reduce unwanted calls, 47% of the phone companies are complying and have fully installed the anti-robocall technology, PIRG said in a newly released report and analysis, called "Ringing in our Fears 2024." The organization has reviewed the progress made by phone companies yearly since 2021.
"It is completely inexcusable that you have less than half the phone providers in this country that are completely using this technology to protect their customers," Teresa Murray, PIRG's consumer watchdog director and author of the report, told Paste BN.
"Yes, there's been some progress, but there's still a lot more that needs to be done to protect people, and not all of it is from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) or even the phone companies, because we feel like a lot needs to be done in the financial services community, particularly banks, to protect their customers," Murray said.
More protections need to be put in place to protect consumers using peer-to-peer payment apps, such as Zelle, from risks of fraud, Murray said.
Additionally, the volume of scam robotexts has nearly tripled since 2021 "as bad guys flocked to unregulated texts instead of calls," the report said.
The FCC, which regulates the telecom industry, took issue with the PIRG report.
"It is incorrect to state that most providers are not complying with caller ID authentication requirements," an FCC spokesman said.
Nearly every provider is required to implement the protections wherever possible in their networks, the spokesman said. "In narrow exceptions where implementation is not possible, all providers are nevertheless still required to take action to prevent illegal robocalls on their networks, and must file robocall mitigation plans with the FCC."
For some providers, some of their networks are still copper wire and are not Internet Protocol-based and can't technologically implement the requirements, the FCC said.
"This can often include large providers whose footprints may include a variety of technologies in their networks as well as those serving rural or remote areas."
What are the laws about robocalls?
The FCC phased in requirements for phone companies to fight robocalls, starting with the largest companies in 2021 and rolling into smaller companies in 2022 and 2023, PIRG said in its report. Currently, only lower-tech phone companies, such as those with traditional copper lines used for landlines, and a small number of others granted extensions, can operate without updated technology.
Not all unwanted robocalls and robotexts are illegal, PIRG said, but most are. Here's what's legal and not, according to PIRG:
- Two types of calls are always illegal: telemarketing calls, even if from a live person, if you are on the Do Not Call list and calls aimed at deceiving or defrauding you.
- Telemarketing calls to your home phone are generally illegal if you did not provide advanced written consent.
- Telemarketing calls to your cell phone are generally illegal without written consent and non-telemarketing calls are generally prohibited without your verbal or written consent.
- Robotexts to your cellphone are generally illegal if they are autodialed commercial texts without your written consent and autodialed noncommercial texts without verbal consent.
- Political robocalls and robotexts are different: Political robocalls and robotexts to cellphones require advance consent, but texts sent manually can be sent without advanced consent. Political calls with recorded messages require consent in advance but political robocalls to landlines are permitted without advance consent, though they can't exceed three calls in a 30-day period.
What companies are not in compliance?
According to an analysis of publicly available reports by PIRG, these major U.S. companies are partially in compliance with the robocall technology rules:
- AT&T Corp.
- AT&T Mobility
- Cox Communications
- Liberty Cablevision
- Optimum by Altice
- Sparklite (Cable One)
- Spectrum VOIP
X2nSat is not in compliance with any parts of the robocall technology law, according to PIRG.
Companies respond
Attempts were made by Paste BN to contact each of the companies for comment, in addition to two telecommunications industry trade groups.
A spokesperson for US Telecom, a group representing much of the industry, said its providers were in compliance with the law.
"With the exception of the bad-actor providers that the industry traces back illegal calls to every day, carriers have done that," the spokesperson said, adding that the FCC's rules do not require deployment of the anti-robocall technology on legacy networks or those with copper wire.
The FCC has required carriers develop "call authentication standards" for non-Internet Protocol networks, the US Telecom spokesperson said.
"Carriers are also in compliance with this rule, and that work is ongoing," the spokesperson said.
An AT&T spokesperson said the company was in compliance with rules for the "Internet Protocol (IP) portion of our network. We will continue to work closely with the FCC and others in the industry to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls."
A spokesperson for Altice USA / Optimum said the company was in compliance with the laws and had one portion of its network that had not yet been upgraded to Internet Protocol. That portion had been granted an extension by the FCC, the company said.
A Cox Communications spokesman also said the company was in compliance for its IP networks and has an extension for its non-IP networks, which is less than 1% of its business clients supported by legacy phone systems.
In a phone interview, Garrett Hill, CEO of X2nSat, said that while his company filled out the FCC required report and clicked on the choice that stated it was not compliant, his company is a satellite phone company that doesn't offer consumer phone services. Hill believes the rule does not apply to his company.
What can consumers do to protect themselves?
Here are some tips from PIRG:
- Sign up for the Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov. It won't stop all unwanted calls, but it provides you with more rights.
- If you get an unexpected call, text or email, don't respond. If you think the contact may be legitimate, independently look for the number and contact the organization.
- Don't pay if you receive an unexpected request for money via any instant payment method option or gift cards. Don't be fooled by an urgent request.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.