Feds Take Victory Lap After Booting Single Robocall Carrier
The federal government is cutting one robocall carrier off U.S. phone networks — but Americans still receive billions of the calls each month.
The federal government is cutting one robocall carrier off U.S. phone networks — but Americans still receive billions of the calls each month.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered U.S. phone networks to block all calls from Digital Solutions, Inc., the agency announced in a Monday press release. The carrier moved illegal prerecorded calls pitching fraudulent loans and tax relief, according to the agency, but the order stops just one company among the many routing billions of robocalls into U.S. networks.
“The FCC is aggressively intensifying its crackdown on illegal robocalls by deploying new, advanced tactics across the telecom landscape, and attacking the problem at every point along the call path,” Hunter Deeley, the FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief said, according to the press release. “Today’s enforcement action shuts down another rogue provider that has consistently failed to play by the rules to police its network and protect consumers.”
The order requires U.S. voice providers and intermediate carriers to block all Digital Solutions traffic within 30 days, the press release states. The company was also removed from the Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD), a list of carriers that certified they use caller ID authentication and made plans to cut down on robocalls.
The Industry Traceback Group traced suspected illegal calls to Digital Solutions earlier this year, the order said. The robocalls were prerecorded and offered loan and tax-relief to individuals that did not consent to receiving them.