FCC Wants To Ban Caller ID Spoofing For Text Messages

Spoofing phone numbers is a common way for scammers to make you think that someone else is calling you. For example, you could receive a call from a number that claims to be from your bank, when in reality, it isn’t. This is the same that applies to text messages as well, but the good news is that the FCC is finally looking to do something about it.

According to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, he has announced that the FCC could be considering adopting a set of rules that would ban caller ID spoofing of text messages and robocalls that come from outside of the US. This is not the first time that this topic has been brought up, but the FCC is finally going to do something about it and will vote on them come 1st of August.

According to Pai, “We must attack this problem with every tool we have. With these new rules, we’ll close the loopholes that hamstring law enforcement when they try to pursue international scammers and scammers using text messaging.” While there is already a law in place that prevents caller ID spoofing, it did not extend to text messages and nor did it cover international phone calls.

If the FCC votes to go through with it, it will give the organization more authority to combat this problem. In recent times, the FCC has enacted rules regarding robocalls, where they have passed a rule that would allow carriers to block them by default.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: FCC, Legal