Congressmen Brett Guthrie and Gary Palmer have announced a hearing to address the issue of illegal robocalls and robotexts. The hearing, titled “Stopping Illegal Robocalls and Robotexts: Progress, Challenges, and Next Steps,” aims to tackle the ongoing problem of fraudulent communications that have cost Americans billions of dollars.
“Illegal, predatory robocalls and robotexts have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars and undermined the public’s faith in the communications they receive. Despite Congressional and agency enforcement actions, rapid technological development has made it increasingly difficult to stop this scourge,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Palmer. They expressed their intent to explore current efforts against these fraudsters and seek new ways to protect the public from harassment and deception.
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at 10:15 AM ET in the Rayburn House Office Building. It will be open to both the public and press, with a livestream available on energycommerce.house.gov.
Joshua Bercu is set to testify on robocall mitigation during the hearing. He will highlight key progress since the implementation of the TRACED Act, including a significant drop in FTC robocall complaints by 70% and a 77% decline in FCC unwanted call complaints since 2019. Tools like STIR/SHAKEN authentication have contributed to a 50% reduction in scam robocalls according to YouMail data.
However, evolving threats persist as scammers employ sophisticated methods such as AI voice cloning and “number rotation.” This has led to an increase in fraud losses by 25–30%, according to FTC/FBI data. Other challenges include SIMBoxes that mask overseas call centers and shell companies exploiting regulatory loopholes.
Bercu’s recommendations for Congress include appointing a federal scam coordinator, prioritizing resources for transnational fraud cases, extending FCC’s ITG designation cycles, formalizing trace-forward pilots, and allowing telecoms safe harbor for sharing fraud data without liability.
“The TRACED Act gave us the tools—now we need Congress to help us outpace scammers,” Bercu emphasized.
The conclusion drawn from these discussions is that adapting the TRACED Act framework is crucial for countering AI-driven fraud and global threats effectively.
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