In a letter sent today to the Federal Communications Commission, the American Bankers Association and other financial trade associations offered support for new rules that the FCC will vote on during its open meeting on Sept. 26 to combat impersonation of banks and other legitimate businesses through illegally spoofed automated calls and text messages. ABA had proposed or suggested two of the rule changes in prior comments.
The new rules would require mobile wireless providers that originate text messages to block all texts from a particular source when notified by the FCC of illegal texts from that source, except under limited circumstances. Existing rules require terminating providers — but not originating providers — to block all texts from a particular number when notified by the FCC of illegal texts from that number. In prior comments, ABA urged the FCC to expand this requirement to cover originating providers.
The new rules also would require mobile wireless providers to offer email-to-text as an opt-in service. In prior comments, ABA warned the FCC that bad actors are increasingly using email-to-text as a primary means to place a large volume of illegal texts quickly.
