This week, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a crucial hearing titled “Stopping Illegal Robocalls and Robotexts: Progress, Challenges, and Next Steps” on June 4, 2025. The hearing brought together experts from industry and consumer advocacy groups to reflect on the strides made in combating illegal robocalls and robotexts since the enactment of the TRACED Act, examine the persistent challenges, and discuss potential future steps. The proceedings highlighted the complex landscape of combating illicit communications while preserving the ability of legitimate businesses to interact with consumers.
The hearing featured testimony from Joshua M. Bercu, Executive Director of the Industry Traceback Group (ITG) and Senior Vice President at USTelecom; Sarah Leggin, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at CTIA; Stephen Waguespack, President of the Institute for Legal Reform and Senior Vice President at the U.S. Chamber Federation; and Ben Winters, Director of AI and Data Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America. Their diverse perspectives provided a comprehensive look at the issue, from the technical tools being deployed to the legal and regulatory frameworks in place and the impact on consumers and businesses.
Progress and Evolving Threats
Witnesses acknowledged that the TRACED Act has been effective in creating a framework to disrupt illegal calling campaigns, enhance accountability, and enable targeted enforcement. Significant progress has been made, with robocall complaints to the FTC declining by over 70% since just prior to the Act’s passage, and FCC unwanted call complaints down by over 77% from their 2018 peak. Scam robocalls, specifically, have seen their volume roughly halved since March 2021, according to third-party data. These improvements are attributed to the supercharging of pre-existing industry initiatives like traceback, call authentication (STIR/SHAKEN), call blocking and labeling tools, and the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD).
However, speakers universally stressed that the fight is far from over. Bad actors are adapting their tactics, shifting from high-volume, indiscriminate campaigns to more targeted, sophisticated attacks that are harder to detect. This includes “number rotation,” where scammers rapidly cycle through real phone numbers, exploiting RMD loopholes by using shell companies and misleading credentials, and increasingly using live calls and stolen data for finely tuned deception. Fraud losses continue to grow, driven not by the decline in traditional robocalls but by these evolving, targeted scams.
Robotexts also present a challenge. CTIA reported blocking over 55 billion scam and spam texts in 2024. Even as the number of reported spam and scam texts have declined, the value of losses from text scams have risen as the attackers have become more sophisticated. Texts have a very high open rate, making them an attractive vector for scammers, who often include malicious links. While industry efforts like blocking, filtering, upfront vetting, and the CTIA’s Secure Messaging Initiative (SMI) are underway, the nature of text messaging presents different challenges compared to robocalls.
An emerging area of interest highlighted by multiple witnesses is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is blurring the lines between robocalls and live scams by enabling criminals to mimic human interaction and even clone voices. These tools make scam content creation faster, easier, and more effective, facilitating personalized scripts and convincing voice impersonations. The rise in phishing attacks and the real-life examples of AI voice cloning used in kidnapping hoaxes, grandparent scams, executive impersonation fraud, and defeating security checks underscore the urgency of addressing this threat.
The Double-Edged Sword: TCPA’s Private Right of Action
While there was broad agreement on the need to stop illegal and abusive calls and texts, a significant point of contention and concern raised at the hearing, particularly by the business community representatives, was the negative impact of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)‘s private right of action.
Stephen Waguespack, representing the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, strongly argued that the TCPA’s private rights of action have fueled abusive litigation against American businesses, creating a difficult operating environment that harms both businesses and consumers. He stressed the critical need to distinguish between legitimate, wanted automated communications (like appointment reminders, school closures, or emergency alerts) and illegal, fraudulent scam communications. These legitimate communications are beneficial to consumers and are also protected by the First Amendment.
Mr. Waguespack testified that the TCPA’s private right of action is not effectively used to target the “true bad actors”—the often overseas-based fraudsters who flagrantly violate the law. Instead, he stated, it has created a “cottage industry” exploited by a small number of plaintiffs’ lawyers and professional plaintiffs who target legitimate businesses for potential financial gain, regardless of actual consumer harm. He highlighted research showing that a handful of law firms are responsible for a disproportionate volume of TCPA filings and mentioned serial plaintiffs.
Notably, Mr. Waguespack directly referenced a concern raised by the Ecommerce Innovation Alliance in its recent petition to the FCC seeking to curb frivolous “quiet hours” litigation. He stated:
“For example in a petition to the FCC, filed in March of this year by the Ecommerce Innovation Alliance and others, the petitioners noted that:
“a singular law firm based in south Florida, through aggressive social media campaigns, actively recruits plaintiffs to file TCPA lawsuits based on a misapplication of the law. They lure individuals with promises of money and false claims that all messages delivered during Quiet Hours are ‘illegal texts’ and boast about recovering ‘millions of dollars’ under the TCPA. Since November, two junior attorneys from this firm have inundated federal courts with 100 such cases.””
Mr. Waguespack elaborated on the challenges posed by the TCPA’s structure, including statutory damages of $500-$1,500 per violation with no cumulative cap, which can lead to “mind-boggling” potential liability in class action lawsuits. He noted that even innocent mistakes, like misdialing or calling a reassigned number, can trigger liability. This environment forces businesses into coercive settlements and makes them hesitant to use automated communications, ultimately harming consumers who want to receive timely and convenient information. He suggested Congress consider reforms such as a cumulative damages cap, a safe harbor provision for good-faith compliance or the ability to cure inadvertent violations, and limits on attorney’s fees to curb this abusive litigation.
EIA shares a deep concern that the current framework incentivizes litigation based on technical violations or aggressive interpretations, rather than focusing on the truly harmful, fraudulent activities.
The Critical Need for Resourced Enforcement
Another key theme running through the hearing, particularly stressed by Representative Lizzie Fletcher and other members, was the vital importance of adequate funding and staffing for the federal agencies tasked with combating illegal robocalls and robotexts.
Congresswoman Fletcher voiced concern that despite calls from experts for increased enforcement, coordination, resources, and staffing, the opposite appears to be happening, with resources being cut and staff being reduced. She specifically highlighted actions that she believes undermine agency capacity, such as attempts to dissolve the DOJ’s consumer protection branch (which has successfully prosecuted cases against data brokers whose data is used by scammers) and efforts targeting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which assists scam victims.
Rep. Fletcher emphasized that shuttering expert-led enforcement agencies and reducing staffing puts communities at more risk. She stressed the need for these agencies to be fully funded to protect consumers from scams, especially as technology advances.
Ben Winters of the Consumer Federation of America echoed these concerns, stating that under-resourced consumer protection agencies are “a big win for scammers” because less enforcement means less consequences. He noted that actions like firing commissioners and budget cuts work directly against the need for more enforcement and proactive behavior. Mr. Winters pointed out that a depleted workforce at the FCC and FTC would hinder their ability to combat scams, making it harder to pursue cases, reduce creativity, and dilute priorities. He also mentioned that the FCC needs more authority, such as the ability to directly collect fines and mandate automatic suspension from the RMD for repeat offenders, to be truly effective.
Other witnesses also called for enhanced enforcement resources and prioritization. Joshua Bercu, the ITG Executive Director, argued that since bad actors will continue to evolve and use any available tool, including AI, the answer lies in aggressive enforcement against the actual bad actors. He suggested Congress prioritize resources for criminal enforcement, investigations, and cross-border coordination. Sarah Leggin of CTIA also supported prioritizing resources for enforcement so that agencies can take on more cases and investigations.
The discussion underscored a shared understanding that combating sophisticated, often transnational scam operations requires robust, well-funded government agencies working in close partnership with industry.
Looking Ahead
The hearing made it clear that while significant progress has been made under the TRACED Act, the challenge of illegal robocalls and robotexts is dynamic and requires continuous adaptation from both industry and government. The rise of AI and the evolving tactics of fraudsters necessitate a forward-looking strategy.
For organizations like the EIA, the hearing reinforced several key priorities:
- Targeting the Real Bad Actors: Efforts must remain focused on identifying and prosecuting the criminal enterprises and malicious actors responsible for illegal and fraudulent communications, rather than inadvertently penalizing legitimate businesses. Traceback efforts and industry-government partnerships are crucial here.
- Addressing Litigation Abuse: The concerns raised about the TCPA’s private right of action and its impact on legitimate business communication are significant and warrant careful consideration from policymakers. Reforms that maintain accountability for harm but deter opportunistic litigation are essential.
- Strengthening Enforcement Agencies: Effective enforcement against sophisticated bad actors requires adequate resources, staffing, and authorities for federal agencies like the FCC, FTC, and DOJ, and their state-level equivalents, including Attorney Generals’ offices. Undermining these agencies weakens the collective ability to protect consumers.
- Adapting to New Technologies: As AI and other technologies evolve, so must the tools and strategies to prevent their misuse by scammers. This requires ongoing industry innovation and proactive regulatory responses, alongside responsible information sharing.
- International Cooperation: Given the transnational nature of many scam operations, international coordination among regulators and law enforcement is increasingly necessary.
The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance remains committed to working with policymakers, industry partners, and consumer advocates to support policies that effectively combat illegal and abusive communications, protect consumers from fraud, and ensure a vibrant, trusted digital ecosystem where legitimate businesses can communicate effectively with their customers. The insights shared during this hearing provide a valuable roadmap for the ongoing efforts ahead.
