On Wednesday, December 4, 2019, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) voted to pass the bipartisan Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) to attack the issue from every angle and finally put a stop to predatory robocalls nationwide. The legislation, which passed the House on a vote of 417 to 3, and which passed the Senate earlier this year, will now head to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“All over North Jersey, residents and especially seniors are being preyed on by scammers looking to cheat them out of their hard-earned money,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer. “It’s unacceptable and I’m glad this legislation takes steps to attack this issue and to protect our community for these disgusting attempts to make a quick buck. I urge the President to swiftly sign this common-sense, bipartisan bill into law.”

The TRACED Act:

• Requires carriers to offer call-authentication technology to everyone at no additional charge;
• Requires Opt-in or opt-out robocall blocking be offered at no additional charge to consumers;
• Gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the ability to step up enforcement actions against unlawful robocalls with a longer statute of limitations and increased fines in certain cases;
• Pushes the Department of Justice to bring more criminal prosecutions against criminal robocallers;
• Requires the FCC to work to stop one-ring scams;
• Helps the FCC and responsible carriers traceback and cutoff suspect phone companies that are responsible for sending vast numbers of unlawful robocalls; and
• Protects patients, doctors and hospitals from unlawful robocalls.

An estimated 54 billion illegal robocalls have already been placed nationwide this year alone. According to YouMail’s Robocall Index, 1.4 billion robocalls were placed to New Jersey so far in 2019.

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