Trump Signs Anti-Robocall Law, Increases Max Fine to $10,000

Lawmakers know how much we despise robocalls—nearly 48 billion robocalls were made in 2018—and a new bill just signed into law by President Trump increases possible fines up to $10,000.

The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act requires wireless carriers to authenticate calls and block robocalls at the discretion of their customers. Any violators can be fined up to $10,000 per call.

The Senate passed the bill in May, and the House approved it last month.

"I applaud Congress for working in a bipartisan manner to combat illegal robocalls and malicious caller ID spoofing," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. "Specifically, I am glad that the agency now has a longer statute of limitations during which we can pursue scammers and I welcome the removal of previously required warning we had to give to unlawful robocallers before imposing tough penalties."

In addition, the TRACED Act requires all major domestic carriers to use STIR/SHAKEN technology. Carriers do use it today, but support is limited and they're not able to verify calls between networks. Now, carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile will sync data in real-time to protect their customers and display only legitimate calls.

Time will tell if financial penalties are enough of a deterrent for robocallers.

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