Under acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the Federal Communications Commission proposed a new set of rules that would push wireless carriers to block spam texts before they could reach the victims’ phones.
“We’ve seen a rise in scammers trying to take advantage of our trust of text messages by sending bogus robotexts that try to trick consumers to share sensitive information or click on malicious links,” Rosenworcel said. “It’s time we take steps to confront this latest wave of fraud and identify how mobile carriers can block these automated messages before they have the opportunity to cause any harm.”
They need to go after the carriers, especially Onvoy who is on record saying they don’t care about people using their phone services to scam. The vast majority of phone scammers use Onvoy or one of their subsidiaries.
We need to keep calling the FCC, FTC and Our state representatives, if we’re in the United States. Onvoy needs to be held accountable!
Onvoy will be killed by federal law if they don’t comply with an order. They’re able to be fined for lack of compliance… However scammers resort to other means of fraud. Phishing and Mail based fraud will become once more.
Yup. It’s a game of chess. Scams are going nowhere anytime soon. Sadly the FCC proposal only applies to text messages, not actual phone calls.
New York, on the other hand is drafting legislation that would hold providers liable with fines and possible civil forfeitures. Should that pass, it’ll only apply to residents of New York. Until the Feds take this seriously, (and there is no indication that they will) we’re not going to see much of anything in the way of change, sadly.
I think what Rosenworcel is failing to get at is the fact that email scams, phone scams, in-person scams, tech support, and online scams are still on the loose. Sure, she made aware of one way to scam, but there are many more ways of scamming and I believe we have to keep pushing the politicians to do what’s right until justice is done. If you’re in the United States, hear me out: It’s time we put in regulations and use them to prevent people from scamming. It angers me SO MUCH that people lack common sense; not to steal, not to threaten to get your way, not to be greedy in such a way for something, but to do the RIGHT THING. We say it’s good to do the right thing but we don’t practice the “right thing”. This ideology must be practiced, whether it’s just calling someone out for scamming or condemning someone for committing ransom. It can be done when someone does it. Sometimes it’s not easy, but long term, you will be seen as a good person. It’s always ok to do what is right, even if it hurts. That, to me, is the theme of scammer.info
I cannot agree more! Onvoy and Peerless Network are the prime violators. Their lame excuses are always: “We are a wholesale communications company, and there is nothing we can do to address the issue if it stems from VOIP providers. We would just have to communicate it to the provider for them to address it”. There is then zero follow-up by Onvoy. Guess what? It does NOT get addressed by these tiny stupid VOIP providers, because they are part of the scam. This is such a blatant lie that Onvoy can’t do anything! They can discontinue all business with a VOIP carrier that is consistently and continuously engaged in scams and stop selling them the numbers! But no, of course, they won’t do it, because they are all about the money, even if it means defrauding millions of Americans of their hard-earned money! Furthermore, the elderly, disabled, mentally handicapped and impoverished people are the primary targets of these scammers! And Onvoy and its leadership are just laughing in people’s faces! Saying it’s an obnoxious behavior would be a major understatement. I have been writing to numerous State representatives from my State as well as FCC and FTC at least once a week. I encourage everyone to do the same. I also encourage all of you to write to the Department of State to take action against Indian and Pakistani governments and Government of the Phillipines. They are well aware of numerous scammer nests but choose to conveniently ignore it.
Bottom line is the following: VOIP should be banned for foreign entities. No foreign company should be able to purchase a local US number, unless it is for their US-based office. FCC should mandate that only local entities can call Americans. Second, wholesalers like Onvoy and Peerless Network should be held accountable for every illegal phone call coming from their number, regardless whether or not this number is resold by them to another entity. Third, sanctions should be placed on egregious violators like India, Pakistan, Philippines, Nigeria etc. Their government officials should be banned from entering the EU. US and their allies and all their assets should be seized. Similar thing what they did to Lukashenko of Belarus or Qaddafi in the past. Extreme customs duties should be levied on their goods too. Fourth, criminally charge Onvoy and other executives for ignoring scams. Mandate it for them to respond to every concerned citizen in regards to scams in details related to the course of action taken. Lack of response would result in criminal prosecution. If the Government were to do all that, it would become a major hassle for Onvoy and other filth to enable scams. They’d get rid of them in no time themselves!
@scamterminator2021 You make a great point. In fact, we should start a motion/bill to make it illegal for foreign entities to use VoIP numbers unless if it’s for business offices in the US. I started a Google doc just now.
Indeed banning all foreign nationals from using a VoIP Client would be handy, Issue comes down to VPNs and Proxies. These would bypass any restrictions however, there’s more ways then one to counter the problem.
VPS/VDS Simply logging into a US Server and using a residential proxy in such a way it goes unnoticed would simply bypass the problem.
Register a business in america. This would bypass the rule for no Foreign from using VoIP Without a permit to do so.
2.2 This comes to no surprise but they have money mules, these mules could bypass the same requirement.
Spoofing caller ID. This is already a Major threat. Should SIP Providers be forced to be transparent with law enforcement without a question? Yes, Call spoofing is annoying. When I can pose as the NSA calling from a +7 Number there’s a problem. Should we invest into tech to check if someone’s spoofing a phone number? Yes. Should the number be provided before you answer the call? Yes.
Bypassing via lying about your business, even if it’s offshore the US would have exceptions to business type. Although outsourcing to india to basically impose what’s next to slave labour is horrible as it is, But the US doesn’t care what happens in India. This law would make the already problematic issue become more of a problem.
VoIP Tracking tools, Obviously it’s “Voice over Internet Protocol” The Internet is communicating on a cellular level there’s no reason why one couldn’t check the origin of the call via the protocol being used.
There’s many methods to evade and plug holes here… My problem is phishing/smsishing/vishing is easy to counter at a corperate level for low costs. Nobody cares to do it.
There are indeed valid points. VOIP, in my opinion, should be banned altogether like the Gulf nations did it. VOIP is also extremely limited in use in China. What it comes down to ultimately is the lack of involvement of the US Federal Government into regulating the industry. If they were to have criminal charges for the executives of VOIP firms and wholesalers like Peerless Network and Onvoy, it would change the industry very fast. Make them personally responsible for all scams originating from their numbers or numbers they resold to the known scamming entities. We as citizens should keep writing about it to our government representatives, such as Senators, Attorney Generals and State Governors. Another key piece is lack foreign accountability. If India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Nigeria were held liable and had to pay to the US scam victims from their budgets, it would make them quite uneasy, to say the least. It would be no different than the Government of Germany paying to the victims of Nazism. They fully took responsibility for the wrongdoings of their regime. So should the governments of the scamming nations.
I did. There is a letter that I have sent out to Jessica Rosenworcel in regards to ongoing Onvoy scams. I encourage everyone to do the same. It likely won’t be read, but we have to start somewhere.
Could you send us a screenshot of the letter you sent? Also, I’m working on a video to educate people about scams and how to handle them. It’s not up yet, but I’ll post the link when it’s ready.