The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday proposed new rules that would allow phone companies to target and block robo-calls coming from what appear to be illegitimate or unassigned phone numbers. The rules could help cut down on the roughly 2.4 billion automated calls that go out each month — many of them fraudulent, according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. In 2015, PayPal drew criticism when it effectively forced many of its users to agree to receive robo-calls from the company. Amid a flurry of letters from lawmakers and complaints from the public, PayPal reversed its decision. “This proposal is a positive step that will help provide relief from the scourge of unwanted calls.”

Source: Washington Post March 23, 2017 16:44 UTC