Spam calls and texts continue to annoy Americans, and worse, they’re costing people money. Telephone companies should do more to combat the problem, U.S. PIRG insists.
According to Truecaller’s U.S. Spam and Scam Report, 92% of Americans received spam calls in 2023, and 86% got spam texts. Even more alarming, 56 million Americans lost money to scam calls.
Despite laws passed by Congress and state investigations to stop scammers, phone companies still aren’t doing enough to protect their customers. A new report by U.S. PIRG Education Fund, called “Who’s Calling?”, graded 24 of the largest phone companies on their efforts to fight spam calls and texts. The results weren’t great.
“It’s outrageous that these billion-dollar companies aren’t using every tool available to stop scammers,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director at U.S. PIRG and the report’s author. “Even when we don’t fall for scams, we waste hours dealing with these unwanted calls, disrupting our work, family time, and relaxation.”
Phone companies could do more
Many companies aren’t providing free scam-blocking services that could help customers avoid fraud. For example, phone companies could warn customers about suspicious calls or block calls that don’t display Caller ID—but many don’t.
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) allows companies to offer these services, yet half of them earned a D or F in the report.
The report outlines 10 key services phone companies should offer to protect customers, plus two additional services for text message security. The good news? Some companies scored well. The bad news? Many did not.
Of the 24 companies in the survey:
- Five companies scored A’s on services offered; three scored A’s overall.
- Two companies scored B’s on services offered; five scored B’s overall.
- 12 earned D’s or F’s on services, and 13 earned D’s or F’s overall.
- As for the big four cellular companies’ overall grades:, AT&T and T-Mobile scored B’s, U.S. Cellular scored a C and Verizon scored a D.
“We’ve been abused by robocalls for 15 years, yet the problem has not appreciably diminished,” Murray said. “These companies are our first line of defense, and we should demand better.”
Email James Hood at jhood@consumeraffairs.com