FTC Makes Announcement That Should Make Idaho Happy

With the holiday season all but here, many of us are keeping an eye out for any suspicious behavior in the form of scams. Sure, we're also looking out for our homes and keeping an eye out for would-be burglars, but it seems crooks have better luck utilizing technology.

That's enough to make anyone paranoid this time of year but thankfully, the Federal Trade Commission has good news; news that should ease most of our paranoia.

A Scammer's Dream: The Smart Phone

It's difficult to meet someone without a cell phone these days and many of us are accustomed to all of the distractions phones can come with.

Whether it's the fake news of social media or the thousands of unread spam email we have in our junk folder, cell phones can distort reality in our everyday lives. One of the ways scammers exploit this distortion is with phone scams.

But, let's be real for a moment - how many of us are actually falling for these scams? They're not hard to spot, right?

One of the most popular methods scammers used to use is simple: calling us up and posing as someone or something we care about. Many of us caught on quickly and started training ourselves to spot phony emails and of course, suspicious phone calls.

Notice Anything Different On Your Phones This Year?

The Federal Trade Commission recently shared some incredible news and one that should make most Idahoans happy: spam calls are down 50%.

In their annual report, the FTC says that "unwanted calls continue to drop for the third straight year, with complaint volume down by more than half since 2021."

A big reason for the continued drop-off can be attributed to "Operation Stop Scam Calls" (what a straight-forward name, huh?) which the FTC says is "the largest crackdown on illegal telemarketing in the agency's history."

Another factor for the decline of illegal calls is the classic Do Not Call Registry which currently has 1,308,375 active registrations in Idaho alone.

The FTC's Work Isn't Done Yet

While this great news for us consumers, the FTC says there are bigger threats on the horizon: voice cloning and AI-enabled scam calls.

"Illegal calls remain a scourge, but the FTC’s strategy to pursue upstream players and equip the agency to confront emerging threats is showing clear signs of success," Sam Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said in their press release.

"In the years to come, it will be critical we continue this progress by confronting not only telemarketers but those firms who knowingly profit from scam calls."