The Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday called on the country’s three largest wireless carriers to do more to shield consumers from a wave of cyberscams that has cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars. The letter to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, signed by Chairman David Schweikert, R.-Ariz., and ranking member Maggie Hassan, D.-N.H., opens a new front in a broader congressional investigation into how U.S. telecom networks are exploited by fraudsters.
“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,” the lawmakers wrote. “Scam communications, however, are increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate messages, and too much of the burden of detection is falling on customers.”
The Associated Press reported that the committee is part of a widening examination of the role U.S. companies play in a surge of cyberscams that drained an estimated $200 billion from Americans in 2024. The letter, which the committee released Wednesday evening, represents the highest-profile congressional demand yet for the telecom industry to strengthen its fraud-detection systems.
The three carriers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.