SAN DIEGO — It happens every day. Many people fall victim to robocalls as scammers work to get their money or personal information. A San Diego senator now has a plan to stop the harassing calls.
Areas of the Valley with highest robocalls, how to stop them
Senator Ben Hueso is sponsoring a new state bill (SB 208) in hopes of regulating robocalls.
“They’re casting a very wide net hoping that one person, maybe out of 10,000, will return their call or give them what they’re looking for,” says Hueso.
According to the senator, scamming robocalls is a $900 million yearly industry. Seventy percent of the $900 million is stolen from consumers. Hueso also claims by 2020, 40 percent of every call made by phone is going to be a spoofing call.
“It’s harder to trace than if we have a landline,” says Hueso. “That’s why we need to encrypt phone calls better so that we can separate the good ones from the bad ones.”
The new state bill would require companies to implement software on their lines, forcing robocall scammers to dial each number physically. In essence, this will block scammers from sending out mass messages.
Hueso is also hoping to have the Public Utilities Commission and the Attorney General’s office prosecute scammers here in the state.
The bill is in committee review right now. If passed, it would take effect in July 2020.
