	Introduction

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) regulates robocalls. A robocall, also known as "voice broadcasting," is any telephone call that delivers a prerecorded message using an automatic (computerized) telephone dialing system, more commonly referred to as an automatic dialer or "autodialer." Robocalls are popular with many industry groups, such as real estate, telemarketing, and direct sales companies. The majority of companies who use robocalling are legitimate businesses, but some are not. Those illegitimate businesses may not just be annoying consumers—they may also be trying to defraud them. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regularly cite "unwanted and illegal robocalls" as their number-one complaint category. These complaints, as well as complaints to congressional offices, have spurred Congress to take action in an effort to protect consumers. The FTC received over 7.1 million complaints about robocalls in FY2017, up from 5.3 million complaints in FY2016. Additionally, the Detection Work Group developed, implemented, and tested a Do Not Originate (DNO) Registry to stop unwanted calls from reaching customers. With the FCC's permission, the Strike Force performed a trial of this concept. The trial was considered a success by the Strike Force and the FCC, playing a significant role in reducing IRS scam calls by about 90% from September 2016 to February 2017. Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking31

In November 2017, the FCC promulgated rules on the creation and use of the DNO Registry. The new rules explicitly allow service providers to block calls from two categories of number: (1) numbers that the subscriber has asked to be blocked, such as "in-bound only" numbers (numbers that should not ever originate a call); and (2) unassigned numbers, as the use of such a number indicates that the calling party is intending to defraud a consumer. Congressional Action, 115th Congress

In the 115 th Congress, 12 bills aimed at curtailing robocalls and protecting c onsumers have been introduced ( Table 2 ). Most of t hese bills are focused on the larger issue of spoofing, as well as curtailing robocalls for debt collection and politica lly oriented messages ; two bills are aimed at protecting seniors from predatory robocalls intended to defraud them. Outlook

Based on their long history, scammers appear determined to continue their attempts to defraud consumers. Robocalls make these efforts easier. The FTC asserts that law enforcement on its own cannot completely solve the problem of robocalls. Technological solutions, including robust call-blocking technology, likely will also be required. The DNO Registry, a technology solution that has been proven to significantly decrease robocalls, is supported by most stakeholders, but concerns remain with legitimate telemarketers who fear it may negatively impact them. The FCC intended to address these concerns in 2018. The impacts of the FTC initiatives on fraudulent robocalls, and the resulting impacts in the telemarketing industry, may continue to be oversight issues for Congress. Other legislation proposed in the House of Representatives during this timeframe would have
expanded the ability of the FCC to impose forfeiture penalties; expanded the statute of limitations and increased the maximum penalty for certain violations; expanded prohibitions on providing inaccurate caller ID data to apply to persons outside the United States if the recipient of the call is within the United States; directed providers of spoofing services to take such steps as the FCC may prescribe to verify that users do not engage in caller ID information violations; expanded the definition of "caller identification information" to include text messages; amended the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly initiate a commercial robocall from within the United States or to a recipient within the United States; directed the FTC to establish an office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection to advise the FTC on the prevention of fraud targeting seniors; and directed the FTC to revise the DNC Registry provisions of the TSR to prohibit politically oriented recorded message telephone calls to telephone numbers listed on that registry.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) regulates robocalls. A robocall, also known as "voice broadcasting," is any telephone call that delivers a prerecorded message using an automatic (computerized) telephone dialing system, more commonly referred to as an automatic dialer or "autodialer." Robocalls are popular with many industry groups, such as real estate, telemarketing, and direct sales companies. The majority of companies who use robocalling are legitimate businesses, but some are not. Those illegitimate businesses may not just be annoying consumers—they may also be trying to defraud them.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regularly cite "unwanted and illegal robocalls" as their number-one complaint category. The FTC received more than 1.9 million complaints filed in the first five months of 2017 and about 5.3 million in 2016. The FCC has stated that it gets more than 200,000 complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls each year. These statistics, as well as complaints to congressional offices, have spurred Congress to hold hearings and introduce legislation on the issue in an effort to protect consumers. Congressional policymakers have proposed a number of changes to existing law and regulations to address the problem of illegal robocalls under the TCA, many of which are intended to defraud. These changes would, for example, expand the definition of what a robocall is, increase penalties for illegal spoofing, and improve protection of seniors from robocall scams. As yet, none of these proposals has become law.
On August 19, 2016, a 60-day Robocall "Strike Force" convened, culminating in the testing of a Do Not Originate (DNO) Registry to stop unwanted calls from reaching customers. The intent of the registry is to block fraudulent calls before they can reach a consumer. With the FCC's permission, the Strike Force performed a trial of this concept. The trial was considered a success by the Strike Force and the FCC, reducing calls associated with one particular scam by about 90% in the third quarter of 2016.
In November 2017, the FCC promulgated rules on the creation and use of the DNO Registry. The new rules explicitly allow service providers to block calls from two categories of number: (1) numbers that the subscriber has asked to be blocked, such as "in-bound only" numbers (numbers that should not ever originate a call), and (2) unassigned numbers, as the use of such a number indicates that the calling party is intending to defraud a consumer.
Notwithstanding the efforts above, based on their long history, scammers appear determined to continue their attempts to defraud consumers. Robocalls make these efforts easier. The FTC asserts that law enforcement on its own cannot completely solve the problem of robocalls. Technological solutions, including robust call-blocking technology, likely will also be required. The DNO Registry, a technology solution that has been proven to significantly decrease robocalls, is supported by most stakeholders, but concerns remain with legitimate telemarketers who fear it may negatively impact them. The FCC intended to address these concerns in 2018. The impacts of the FTC initiatives on fraudulent robocalls, and the resulting impacts in the telemarketing industry, may continue to be oversight issues for Congress.
In the 115th Congress, three hearings have been held, and 13 bills aimed at curtailing robocalls and protecting consumers have been introduced. Most of these bills are focused on the larger issue of spoofing, as well as curtailing robocalls for debt collection and politically oriented messages; two bills are aimed at protecting seniors from predatory robocalls intended to defraud them.