Category: spoofing

FCC proposes record-setting $225 million fine against robocallers

[ad_1] The Ajit Pai-era FCC likes to make a big show of punishing robocallers, and that’s truer than ever in 2020. The regulator has proposed a record-setting $225 million fine against Texas-based health insurance telemarketers Jakob Mears and John Spiller for roughly 1 billion spoofed robocalls made between January and May 2019. The duo reportedly […]

Security firm details how hackers stole $1.3 million in wire transfers

[ad_1] The Florentine Banker manipulates the conversation until the third party approves the new banking details and confirms the transaction. If the bank rejects the transaction due to a mismatch in the account currency, beneficiary name or any other reason, the attackers are there to fix the rejects until the money is in their own […]

FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021

[ad_1] The agency says the widespread adoption of STIR/SHAKEN will reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing, help law enforcement agencies identify bad actors and, most importantly, allow carriers to identify spammers before they ever call your phone. The FCC estimates fraudulent call schemes cost Americans approximately $10 billion every year. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai started […]

FCC could require phone companies to authenticate calls

[ad_1] Under the STIR/SHAKEN protocol, carriers verify that a call is legitimate (not coming from a spoofed number) before it reaches the recipient. In 2018, Pai urged carriers to implement the protocol by 2019. AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon (Engadget’s parent company) have all implemented the tech in one way or another, but robocalls are […]

T-Mobile and Sprint can now verify calls across their networks

[ad_1] “We’re in an arms race with these scammers, and we’ve got to join forces as an industry to keep all wireless customers protected,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a press release. T-Mobile is also expanding its Caller Verified feature to 23 smartphones. Soon, customers with more devices will see “Caller Verified” on their […]

FCC bans spoofed text messages and international robocalls

[ad_1] As you may remember, Chairman Ajit Pai proposed the changes earlier this month. In a video announcing their approval, Pai said the FCC has received tens of thousands of complaints about spoofing in just the first six months of this year. The FCC isn’t fighting this fight alone, though. Last week, the House passed […]

FCC Chairman wants to ban caller ID spoofing for text messages

[ad_1] “We must attack this problem with every tool we have,” Chairman Pai said. “With these new rules, we’ll close the loopholes that hamstring law enforcement when they try to pursue international scammers and scammers using text messaging.” While the Truth in Caller ID Act prohibits spoofing caller ID information, it did not originally extend […]