Scam calls and spam texts have gotten so relentless that a bipartisan panel in Washington is now demanding answers from the country’s three biggest wireless carriers, grilling them over exactly how they detect, block and disrupt high-volume automated fraud. On Wednesday, the Joint Economic Committee pressed AT&T, Verizon and T‑Mobile for a detailed breakdown of their defenses as investigators and consumer groups warn that robocalls and robotexts are getting harder to stop and that the burden of catching scams has increasingly shifted onto ordinary customers.
What Lawmakers Asked
Rep. David Schweikert (R‑Ariz.), who chairs the Joint Economic Committee, and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D‑N.H.), the panel’s ranking member, sent the carriers a list of pointed questions about how they collect and share data, trace suspicious traffic and coordinate with law enforcement to shut down criminal networks, according to the AP. The committee also wants documents and timelines that spell out what tools the companies use, how those tools work in practice and how often they flag or block suspect calls and texts.
How Big The Problem Is
The numbers behind all those rings and pings are staggering. A wireless trade coalition told Congress that carriers identify or block more than 45 billion scam calls a year and stopped roughly 55 billion robotexts in 2024, according to CTIA testimony. YouMail’s Robocall Index logged about 52.5 billion robocalls in 2025, while RoboKiller has tracked months in 2024 with nearly 19 billion spam texts, highlighting an aggressive shift toward SMS-based attacks. The Federal Trade Commission has also reported that texts and phone calls are among the most common ways scammers reach victims and that reported losses to fraud have climbed in recent years, per the FTC.
Industry Response And Why Critics Say It Is Not Enough
Industry groups and carriers say they are not just sitting on their hands. Companies describe a multilayered approach that includes analytics to spot suspicious traffic patterns, caller-authentication tools and traceback efforts that can follow scam campaigns back to their source. USTelecom’s Josh Berc said providers work with law enforcement to trace scam calls and support investigations, according to the AP.
Critics counter that for all that technical wizardry, too much of the protection is still sold as an upgrade. Carriers have increasingly pushed premium filtering and branded-caller ID services behind paid tiers, and some consumer advocates argue that stronger legal or financial pressure is needed to really change behavior. “Companies will not go far enough until they actually do feel some type of liability,” Eden Iscil of the National Consumers League told the Houston Chronicle.
Where Policy Could Go Next
Congress already tried to get ahead of the problem with the 2019 TRACED Act, which required caller-ID authentication, and the Federal Communications Commission responded by rolling out the STIR/SHAKEN protocols to curb spoofed numbers. Regulators and auditors say those steps alone have not solved the problem, per the FCC. The Government Accountability Office has urged a coordinated, government-wide strategy to improve data collection and disruption tactics, a recommendation lawmakers are now invoking as they gather carrier records and weigh whether tougher requirements or liability-based incentives are needed (GAO).
What Consumers Can Do
While Washington debates how hard to lean on the industry, experts say consumers should use every free tool already on the table. Guidance from the FTC urges people to enable their carrier’s no-cost blocking features, consider reputable call-filtering apps and report scam calls and texts to the agency’s complaint portal so investigators can spot patterns.
The Joint Economic Committee has requested formal responses from the carriers. Lawmakers say those answers will help determine whether continued oversight and voluntary measures are enough or whether Congress needs to move toward harder mandates, liability or other incentives to push providers to do more.
