Rep. Yvette D. Clarke’s (NY-09) legislation to end one-ring scams passed the House of Representatives yesterday as part of the TRACED Act (S. 151) to stop bad robocalls.

      Clarke said: “The jig is up for con artists who have time and time again deceived the American people into answering fraudulent calls that then puts our constituents on the hook for outrageous charges on their phone bills. I am proud to have my bill, the ‘Ending One-Ring Scams Act,’ included in the recently passed TRACED Act to ensure that the American people are protected from these harmful scams.”

      When consumers call back a missed robocall (often unaware it’s a robocall), robocallers can collect fees from cell phone carriers. These incurred fees trickle down to consumers on their cell phone bills.  

Specifically, Clarke’s included legislation (H.R. 3264):

• ensures the FCC initiates a proceeding to protect the called consumers from one-ring scams;

• ensures the FCC considers how it can work with Federal and State law enforcement agencies to address the issue, work with governments of foreign countries, incentivize voice service providers to stop calls made to perpetrate the issue, work with entities that provide call-blocking services to address the issue;

• encourages the FCC to work with the governments of foreign countries to address one-ring scams; 

• requires the FCC to publish a report on the status of its work to Congress no later than 1 year after passage; and

• requires the FCC to consult with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to educate consumers on how to avoid one-ring scams and incentivize voice service providers to stop calls made to perpetrate one-ring scams.

• YouMail estimates that there were nearly 48 billion robocalls in 2018, a 64 percent increase since 2016. First Orion predicts that 44.6 percent of all calls to mobile phones made in 2019 will be scams.