A new law is looking to give government the power to kill those annoying robocalls before they come through and to go after the people behind them.
The newly passed Traced Act, which stands for Telephone, Robocall, Abuse, Criminal, Enforcement and Deterrence and requires phone companies to implement a number authentication system that will help identify who’s calling and that’s at no extra cost to consumers.
It also gives law enforcement more time to go after bad actors, extending the statute of limitations from one year to four years and slaps rogue callers with heavier fines of up to $10,000 per call.
“Having a criminal penalty is a very strong deterrent,” said expert Bill Verson. “But I’ll be honest with you, you know the bad actors are always going to find a way to try to get around it.”
Even though the calls will go down, it won’t be anytime soon. Many smaller carriers have not yet upgraded their software and the law gives them 18 months to comply.
“It’s going to take some time, probably about two years before you actually see the full benefits of it,” Verson said.
The law specifically says the federal government must put consumers first while another highlight is it requires major carriers to weed out calls from any number that is spoofed - a favorite go-to for scammers when they make it look like the call is coming from a trusted source or something really close to your number.
