FCC accuses carriers of being ?gateways? for foreign robocallers

The Federal Communications Commission is asking phone carriers for help blocking robocalls made from outside the US and is implementing a congressionally mandated system to trace the origin of illegal robocalls.The FCC yesterday sent letters to seven US-based voice providers "that accept foreign call traffic and terminate it to US consumers." Tracebacks conducted by the USTelecom trade group and the FCC found that each of these companies' services is "being used as a gateway into the United States for many apparently illegal robocalls that originate overseas," the FCC's letters to the companies say.The FCC letters were sent to All Access Telecom, Globex, Piratel, Talkie, Telcast, ThinQ, and Third Base. "This scam cost consumers more than $19 million in the last year," the FCC wrote.The FCC asked the carriers what "technical and procedural processes" they use to "detect or identify call traffic that is likely to be illegal," such as by "detecting unusual call patterns or large call volumes." The carriers were also asked what procedures they use "to ensure that the Caller ID information associated with foreign call traffic has not been unlawfully spoofed."Other questions asked by the FCC are as follows:As noted by the FCC letters, the TRACED Act encouraged the FCC "to take appropriate enforcement actions" against carriers that either don't help "trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls" or who "originate or terminate substantial amounts of unlawful robocalls." The FCC told the carriers that it "will continue to monitor your cooperation."The FCC said in its press release that the letters "are part of a coordinated effort with our partners in the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission."Further ReadingDOJ sues US telecom providers for connecting Indian robocall scammersAs the FCC mentioned, the DOJ last week filed lawsuits against two small voice providers that allegedly connected hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls from Indian call centers to US residents.