Congress Presses Major Telecoms For Data On Blocking Costly Scam Calls
The Joint Economic Committee sent detailed anti-scam information requests to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile on Wednesday evening, May 20, 2026, pressing carriers for data on costly robocalls and robotexts.[1]
The committee cited an estimated $200 billion in scam-related losses to Americans in 2024 and said the burden of detecting fraud falls too heavily on consumers.[1]
Industry data show carriers blocked about 55 billion scam and spam robotexts in 2024 and flagged or blocked roughly 45 billion scam calls each year. Still, Americans received more than 50 billion robocalls in 2025 and over 19 billion spam texts per month in 2024, underscoring the scale of the problem.
Lawmakers said they want carriers to detail how they block scams, how they label risky calls, and what more they will do to protect consumers.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Wednesday evening, May 20, 2026, the Joint Economic Committee sent detailed anti-scam information requests to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
- The committee cited an estimated $200 billion in scam-related losses to Americans in 2024 and said detection burdens fall too heavily on consumers.
- Industry data show 55 billion scam and spam robotexts were blocked in 2024 and about 45 billion scam calls are flagged or blocked annually, yet Americans still received over 50 billion robocalls in 2025 and more than 19 billion spam texts per month in 2024.
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