New York Senator Announces Legislation To Crack Down On Robocalls

On November 30th, a press conference was held on the subject of robocalls, robotexts, and AI scams.

U.S. Senator for New York - Kirsten Gillibrand, headed up the conference, noting that 4 billion robocalls every month are made to Americans, and many are from scammers.

Now that artificial intelligence is growing fast, phone scams have become more sophisticated. One way is where a scammer mimics or impersonates the voice of a person's loved one with the intention to steal money or information.

Senator Gillibrand has reintroduced the Do Not Call Act to establish new criminal penalties for robocallers, including prison time, alone with asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and track AI-powered scams.

Robocalls are obnoxious and disruptive at best and mechanisms for insidious scams at worst. Scammers should not be allowed unfettered access to New Yorkers at all times of day and night. I am reintroducing the DO NOT Call Act to finally crack down on robocalls and robotexts and impose stricter penalties for scammers - including up to 3 years in prison. I’m also calling on the FTC to investigate and track increasingly common AI scams that target vulnerable New Yorkers. I am determined to end relentless robocalls and look forward to getting this legislation passed. - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

According to the press release from Senator Gillibrand, the "Do Not Call Act strengthens criminal penalties for intentional violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which regulates the use of telemarketing calls."

Repeated violations are punishable by a prison sentence of up to 3 years, and this bill will double the fine for falsifying caller ID information to $20,000.

For more information on the Do Not Call Act, click here.