Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can now go after scammers posing as tech support providers, even if it’s a consumer calling them. It’s just there approved amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule, which expands coverage to include “inbound” calls to companies that offer “technical support services through advertisements or direct mail solicitations.” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, explained that the new rule will allow the agency to hold these fraudulent businesses accountable and recover money for victims.
“The Commission will not sit idly by as older consumers continue to report tech support scams as a leading driver of fraud losses,” Levine said, as the rule expansion will help protect consumers who are primarily 60 and older. According to the agency, older adults reported losing $175 million to tech support scams in 2023 and were five times more likely to be harmed than younger consumers.
Tech support scams typically trick potential victims into calling them by sending them emails or triggering pop-up alerts that claim their computer is infected with malware. The scammers then ask their targets to pay for the supposed services by making money transfers, putting money down on gifts or prepaid cars, or sending cryptocurrency coins, as these methods can be difficult to trace and reverse. They have long been a problem in the United States – the agency to close Two large Florida-based telemarketing operations defrauded victims of $120 million in 2014 — but things only got worse over time. Victims reported losing $175 million in 2023, 10 percent more than reported losses to tech support scams in 2022.
As the FTC notes, the Telemarketing Sales Rule has been updated several times since 2000 before this latest amendment. The first amendment in 2003 led to the creation of the Do Not Call Registry for telemarketers, and later changes were made to include pre-recorded telemarketing calls and debt collection services.
