The bipartisan leadership of the House Communications Subcommittee is pressing the FCC to use the power Congress gave it to crack down on illegal robocallers in the age of COVID-19 scammers.
Related: FCC Adopts Mandatory STIR/SHAKEN Regime
In a letter to FCC chair Ajit Pai and Attorney General William Barr, Subcommittee chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and ranking member Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), praised the FCC's steps to implement the TRACED Act--the FCC voted last week to mandate the STIR/SHAKEN default caller ID regime mandated by the act--but urged them to make sure that implementation included taking all actions necessary to prevent the bogus virus test and other roboscams.
"The TRACED Act gives the FCC and DOJ new and expanded tools and authorities to combat illegal robocalls," they said.
They pointed out that the Act directs the Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau--in this case Rosemary Harold--to provide any evidence the bureau obtains on willfully and repeated robocall violations "with an intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value, to the attorney general."
They said that combined with the boost to a $10,000-per-call fine should be a strong deterrent.
They urged them to "go after" the COVID-19 roboscammers "aggressively." They want to know what steps both Barr and Pai are taking in that direction by April 4.
