Cybersecurity Policy Report, Lawmakers Urge Telecom Carriers to Protect Consumers, (May 21, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:AT&T | Joint Economic Committee | T-Mobile US | Verizon Communications
By Paul Kirby
Joint Economic Committee Chairman David Schweikert (R., Ariz.) and ranking member Maggie Hassan (D., N.H.) today urged AT&T, Inc., Verizon Communications, Inc., and T-Mobile US, Inc., to take additional steps to protect consumers from scams, including those facilitated through robocalls and texts.
In letters to the carriers, the lawmakers sought detailed information about their efforts to identify and address scams.
“Consumers need to be able to trust that the calls and texts they receive—from their doctor’s office or their child’s school, for example—are authentic. Scam communications, however, are increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate messages, and too much of the burden of detection is falling on customers,” wrote Chairman Schweikert and ranking member Hassan.
A recent committee hearing “made clear that telecommunications companies need to take further steps to protect customers from scammers even as they serve as key partners on scams prevention for federal officials. … Expert witnesses, telecommunications providers, and other frontline industries agree that scams present an urgent and complex challenge that calls for additional action. As leaders of the Joint Economic Committee, we stand ready to work together on solutions to better protect Americans from scams.”
Among other things, the companies were asked to describe their overall strategy to identify and protect customers and their networks from illegal or unwanted spam and/or scam calls and texts and were also asked what percentage of their payrolls are used to guard against scams.
The letters asked for the companies to reply to the questions by June 11.
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