FCC Proposes New Rules to Target Caller ID Spoofing and Issues Report on the Fight Against Illegal Robocalls

February 20, 2019

While the FCC continues to tread carefully in evaluating the thorny issue of how broadly to interpret  the TCPA’s definition of “automated telephone dialing system,” particularly as it confronts proposed legislation that, if adopted, would ultimately expand the reach of the TPCA, the Commission has decided to move forward with some less controversial issues.  In particular, the Commission’s leadership took two actions last week as part of an effort to address mounting concerns about the influx of unwanted and illegal robocalls, particularly including the prevalent use of fake caller ID information to dupe consumers into answering the phone when a telemarketer calls or, even worse, providing sensitive information based on a false impression that they are speaking to a reputable company or government agency…