The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

Post by stjohnswarts » Sat, Nov 09, 2019, 9:46 PM UTC

nobodyandproud wrote: post #17

phkahler wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem is that it's possible to spoof called ID. The fraud starts before you answer the phone. Caller ID used to be an extra charge. The telcos needed it not to be mandatory. But now my land line is going away because it's become nothing but an annoyance. They could have prevented that but... but...

That is part of the problem, but it costs almost nothing to spam calls. So even if you track someone down, what will you do if they are dirt poor?

Post by 9dl » Sat, Nov 09, 2019, 9:47 PM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #42

I see people here saying that spoofed numbers is the problem. Maybe it's a big part of it, but at the end of the day, the phone companies are complicit with the criminals because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack. These crooks make millions , of calls every year. My first employer was apparently making robocalls, though none of us were aware of it(there was a call center w…

Post by kitteh » Sat, Nov 09, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

Rapzid wrote: post #122

beerandt wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phone company has a source number for calls coming from outside their system for billing purposes. I want that number. Edit: At a minimum, an out of system call should display what system / exchange it originates from. That at least helps solve neighbor spoofing.

Yeah it's bonkers they allow this still. No good actor ISP is going to knowingly let improperly sourced traffic transit networks...

Post by stjohnswarts » Sat, Nov 09, 2019, 9:49 PM UTC

briandear wrote: post #14

vkou wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is a problem where the necessary resources used to punish white collar crime are not being allocated. If there was a known Florida-based drug dealer that was bringing in $120,000,000 of drugs/year, there'd be dozens of cops working around the clock to bring him in. A Florida-based robo-caller, fined $120,000,000, who isn't paying a penny? Nobody cares. I understand lack of enforcement against some robocall f…

To be fair $120 million in drugs and $120 million in uncollected fines are apples and oranges. The drug money is financing murdering drug cartels that have brought Mexico to their knees. Robocalls are kind of not on the same level as funding human-trafficking, murderous cartels.

Post by stjohnswarts » Sat, Nov 09, 2019, 9:50 PM UTC

nobodyandproud wrote: post #93

vkou wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fine. We have a solution for people who don't have the full amount of a fine. We take every penny that they do have. Since the guy hasn't paid a cent, and is not living under a bridge, panhandling with a "Homeless veteran, please give me money for food" sign, I'm pretty sure that this is a problem with enforcement . > You don’t need a lot of money to spam calls. No, but you do get a lot of money from the peopl…

That’s not at all a disincentive if the same person then just gets another setup a month later, and starts all over again. This is not a law enforcement problem, because this problem only became common once phone calls were virtually free to make. A lot of problems would be solved if phone calls are billable. Then the telcos would be fighting amongst themselves to make sure that they get paid.