Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Wednesday that she is working on legislation to crack down on robocall scams.
McCaskill accused telephone companies of not doing enough to prevent the scams and said it’s time for the government to intervene.
{mosads}“While some legitimate questions still exist around the technologies that would help prevent these scams, it’s clear that the industry does not intend to pursue such technologies or other solutions to quickly address the issue of fraudulent robocalls — a problem that has plagued consumers for years,” she said in a statement.
“In the face of their inadequate approach, I will start drafting legislation to provide regulators with a robust set of tools to fight these fraudsters and start gaining back ground for American consumers against robocallers.”
McCaskill, the chairwoman of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection, held a hearing on robocalls earlier this year.
Following the hearing, she sent letters to the major telecom associations asking them to discuss the feasibility of implementing technology to prevent robocalls.
She said she was disappointed that the companies appear uninterested in aggressively combatting the unwanted calls.
Jot Carpenter, vice president for CTIA-the Wireless Association, which represent cellphone service providers, said McCaskill’s claim that the wireless industry isn’t doing enough is “simply wrong.”
“The wireless industry has a long history of working with the [Federal Communications Commission and [the Federal Trade Commission] to investigate and stop fraudulent robocalls and we stand by our record in this area,” he said in a statement.
“As we pointed out both in testimony and our follow-up correspondence, wireless companies and other common carriers are prevented by law from picking and choosing which calls to deliver.”
—Updated with a statement from CTIA at 4:11 p.m.