Robocalls have become a rampant issue, disrupting day-to-day life and scamming Americans out of their hard-earned money. These calls, often using AI and other tools, impersonate family members, phone providers, and more.
The Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband recently discussed the latest issue and a potential solution: AI.
Currently, bad actors are using AI to steal people’s voices and repurpose them in calls to loved ones, creating a state of distress.
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This goes beyond the typical scam calls from banks and credit card companies, as it leaves individuals uncertain about the identity of the caller. The financial consequences, along with the potential mental distress, are significant.
According to Senator Ben Ray Luján, the chair of the subcommittee, Americans receive an estimated 1.5 billion to 3 billion scam calls each month, resulting in a staggering $39 billion in losses in 2022.
These figures are alarming, especially considering the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement (TRACED) Act of 2019, which aimed to empower the government to prosecute robocallers and allow individuals to block them.
Unfortunately, the blame for the ongoing issue has been placed on government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Margot Saunders, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, expressed her dissatisfaction with the FCC’s enforcement actions during her testimony to the subcommittee.
She highlighted the insufficient response from U.S.-based providers to traceback requests and the failure to recover fines issued against fraudulent actors.
Saunders called for clearer guidance from the FCC on existing regulations and stricter penalties, including suspension, for voice service providers who fail to comply.
Mike Rudolph, the chief technology officer at robocall-blocking firm YouMail, proposed using AI to identify insufficient information in the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database. Some phone providers evade accountability by submitting incomplete or irrelevant information.
By leveraging AI, these deficiencies could be flagged, ensuring that providers meet their obligations.
