The FTC Robocall Challenge | Federal Trade Commission

This video, produced by the General Services Administration, describes the FTC Robocall Challenge and introduces one of the winners. ****************************** Transcript: [TELEPHONES RINGING] Hello? Hello? Hello. This is Rachel at Cardholder Services calling in reference to your current credit card account. There are no problems currently with your account. It is urgent that you contact us concerning your eligibility for lowering your interest rate. Your eligibility expires shortly, so please consider this your final notice. [MUSIC PLAYING] Some 200,000 complaints a month are logged with the FTC about robocalls. So if you're tired of answering your phone, and there's an automated voice on the line, you're not alone That's why last October, we issued our robocall challenge. A $50,000 prize for an individual or small group that could design a practical, technical, best overall solution to this frustrating problem. And the response was phenomenal. We received almost 800 submissions, ranging from the practical tips from consumers who told us what they're doing today to reduce robocalls, to interesting ideas about long-term solution that might discourage would-be robocallers. The agency is tackling the problem through aggressive law enforcement, creative investigation techniques, consumer education, and coordinating with law enforcement, industry, and other stakeholders. One of the winners, Aaron Foss, shared his thoughts on the competition. So the FTC put out the robocall challenge, and this was in response. They get over 200,000 complaints about robocalls every month. And so they saw this is a really huge problem, and one that they wanted the input of the technology community. And so they set up-- they crowd sourced-- and they set up this competition. They said, hey, if anybody has any unique ideas on how to defeat robocallers. And honestly, before this competition, I'd never really given it much thought. When I get robocalls, I just hang up, and that's really it. But with my background in technology, I saw this as a challenge that I could solve. I knew how I could solve this. We hope you'll see Aaron's ideas, and those of the other winners, available on the market sometime soon. Learn more about the FTC's battle against illegal robocalls at ftc.gov/robocalls. ****************************** The Federal Trade Commission deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers' interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies. Comment Moderation Policy We welcome your comments and thoughts about the information on this page. If you do have something to say, please be courteous and respectful to other commenters. We won't routinely review or edit any comments before they are posted, but we will delete any comments that: 1) contain spam or are off-topic 2) use vulgar language or offensive terms that target specific groups or contain personal attacks 3) are sales pitches, promotions, urls or links to commercial sites 4) spread clearly misleading or false information or 5) include personal information, like home addresses

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