NEW REPORT: Only half of phone companies use legally required anti-robocall technology

Upcoming election has fueled spam, scam calls and texts

WASHINGTON — Weren’t we supposed to stop getting so many spam robocalls and robotexts? If you still are, here’s why: Three years after a federal law started requiring phone companies to install anti-robocall technology, less than half of those companies have completed the installation and unwanted calls have dropped only 17%, according to Ringing in our Fears 2024, a new report by U.S. PIRG Education Fund. 

Also contributing to the problem of our phones dinging and vibrating too much: Federal rules to combat spam texts started kicking in just last year, and they don’t do much to thwart the billions of unwanted robotexts we get every month.

“Instead of working for us, phones over the past 15 years have increasingly been used against us,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director for U.S. PIRG Education Fund and author of the report. “Every day, scammers swindle devastating amounts of money or personal information from unsuspecting people. Everyone — starting with phone companies, regulators, Congress and banks — needs to do more to stop this pervasive problem.”

You may have been bombarded by even more unwanted calls and texts in recent months because of the upcoming election. Ringing in our Fears explains what’s legal, what’s not and what you can do to reduce the influx, which isn’t likely to stop much after the election.

The new report is U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s fourth in an annual series. We analyze compliance with the TRACED Act. This law that Congress passed in 2019 aims to reduce the billions of scam and spam calls every month that waste our time, stress our brains and put us at risk for fraud. 

The report also shows:

• 4,365 companies have completely installed robocall-fighting software as of Oct. 1, up from 500 in 2021, according to our analysis of FCC records. We name names.
• Scam and telemarketing robocalls have declined under the new law, but only by 17% over three years. Unwanted robotexts have nearly tripled in the same time.
• Per-person fraud losses from robocalls are increasing, perhaps because data breaches and artificial intelligence help scammers be more believable. 

About 56 million Americans (21% of adults) lost money through scam calls in 2023, according to Truecaller’s U.S. Spam and Scam Report. 

“How many millions more people will be harmed by scam calls before lawmakers and regulators do something strong enough to stop the calls once and for all?” asked Murray.

See our new guide: How to stop robocalls and robotexts and avoid scams