Gallego Calls on FCC to Crack Down on Scam Robocalls

PHOENIX, AZ – Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), along with 35 other Members of Congress, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urging the agency to crack down on fraudulent robocalls and texts.

“No one likes receiving scam calls and texts,” said Rep. Gallego. “And too often, they are more than just annoying. These calls try to scam Americans out of their credit card information or social security numbers. This is a serious financial risk to Americans, so I’m proud to join this letter calling on the FCC to do more to stop this abuse.”

Spam calls have been on the rise in recent years, from 7,600 auto warranty scams in 2020 to more than 12,000 in 2021. And it’s not just auto warranty scams, either. Credit card, insurance and healthcare, lawsuit and criminal charges, and social security phishing calls round out the top five types of robocall complaints reported to the FCC.

These types of scams can be relentless, too. As the letter states, “so far, in 2023, it is estimated that there are over 300,000 robotexts sent every single minute to Americans across the country and over 3 billion robotexts are sent every week, according to Robokiller, an application company working to prevent spam messages. In April 2023 alone, Americans received over 13 billion robotexts.”

These spam calls—including illegal and spoofed robocalls—remain the top FCC consumer complaint and the Commission’s top protection priority. And according to the Federal Trade Commission, that’s especially true for Arizonans. Arizona ranked third nationwide in complaints filed to the National Do Not Call Registry.

In 2019, Gallego proudly supported the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act. This bipartisan law cracks down on robocalls and texts and gives the FCC more enforcement authority. But more must be done.

That’s why Rep. Gallego and the other members of Congress in the letter ask Chairwoman Rosenworcel to answer questions on how the FCC plans to combat robocalls and robotexts. The questions are:

• What next steps is the FCC taking to help regulate and decrease robocalls and robotexts?
• Are there any noted gaps in coverage with the TRACED Act, such as international calls, that could be addressed with Congressional action?
• Can programs designed for the TRACED Act or intergovernmental cooperation with the FTC and the Do Not Call registry apply to robotext recipients to ensure text messages see some sort of authentication process?
• What else can the administration do to address the proliferation of robotexts?

Full text of the letter can be found here.