Hey @DennisSanders,
We received some more information on this.
You may be referring to last week’s FCC ruling, which would apply to U.S. carriers only.
The CRTC introduced a separate ruling in December, which will require Canadian carriers to block malformed numbers. We’re committed to continuing to work with the CRTC and industry partners to combat unwanted calls and have plans to implement a solution.
Stay tuned!
Hello DennisSanders,
Welcome to the community!
@DennisSanders wrote:...Robocall blocking is now being offered in the USA...
The ruling was that carriers are now allowed to automatically block SPAM robocalls. That does not mean it is currently possible for them to do so. The US carriers have until the end of the year to implement the technology (see here and here)
Both the FCC and the CRTC rulings refer to STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited)/(Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) technology. According to the CRTC, authentication and verification of caller ID information for Internet Protocol (IP) voice calls should be implemented by Canadian telecommunications service providers (TSPs) by no later than 31 March 2019 (see here), though I am not aware of the progress of the implementation.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Shiva90,
Welcome to the community!
I can understand the frustration. I think everyone is rather fed up about getting SPAM and SCAM calls from spoofed numbers. Unfortunately, there currently isn't much that any of the mobile providers can do to prevent them. Since the spammers/scammers use spoofed numbers, it is not possible to identify the true spammers' number. The numbers shown on caller ID do not belong to the spammers. They often belong to innocent, unsuspecting people. Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done to prevent numbers from being spoofed. In some instances, the spammers/scammers will use the recipients' own phone numbers to make the calls. Even the RCMP are not immune to being spoofed (see here).
FidoSaad noted that it was a nation-wide issue. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the problem is broader than merely solely a Canadian issue (see here).
The mobile providers have implemented Universal Call Blocking which is meant to block calls from malformed phone numbers. That said, I'm doubtful whether it will have much of an effect on the amount of SPAM or SCAM calls since many of them appear to have properly formed phone numbers. In addition, a new technology, STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens) is being adopted to further reduce the amount of nuisance calls (see here). However, I have my doubts as to whether those measures will reduce the amount of SPAM calls. My understanding is the STIR/SHAKEN will only identify possible SPAM calls and mark the calls as suspected SPAM.
Unfortunately, until the technology to unmask the true number of spammers/scammers is readily available (not simply the number shown on the caller ID), the only solution currently is to block the numbers on your phone.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hey @ DennisSanders
Welcome abord the Community!
We know how annoying these calls can be, and we’re very sorry for the inconvenience. We use sophisticated anti-spam software in our network to protect you from spammers, however as these calls often originate from random numbers they are hard to prevent.
As for your question, we will get back to you when we have information regarding that.
