Robocall Fraud May Mean People Won't Take COVID-19 Tracer Calls, CAC Told

“New variations in pandemic-themed hooks continue to evolve and often mirror news headlines,” Bartholme said. Earlier scams focused on generic test kits, but more recent scams center on antibody testing, he said. Fraudsters are using text messages to collect personal information or advance payment for required tests “under the guise of contact tracing,” he said.

The guidance from the FCC, FTC, states and consumer groups has been don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, Bartholme said. “Contact tracing calls will be an unknown number and time is often a factor, and you want consumers to answer those,” he said: “Legitimate contact tracers will not ask for insurance information, bank account information, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers or payments.” The FCC has had a general reduction in unwanted call complaints since March, but there's a recent uptick, partly due to political calls headed into the election, Bartholme said: The agency will soon release an updated version of its political call and text guide.

Meanwhile, FCC thinking on the 5G Fund, which commissioners haven't authorized, is evolving, said Audra Hale-Maddox, Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force chief of staff. The fund “is a little different” from what the FCC does elsewhere in the USF, which is filling in service gaps. “Because this technology is so new anywhere, there are lots of urban areas where there is plenty of economic case to serve, but the technology is not there yet,” she said: “We don't want to sort of wait until 5G has been rolled out to everywhere that’s commercially viable and then come and fill those holes. … We’re trying to be aggressive in getting ahead of the market.”

The FCC is “weighing different ways” to determine eligibility, Hale-Maddox said. “There are rural areas that are sparsely populated, but the population that is there is very wealthy, owns extremely large ranches or ski resorts” and may not need support, she said. Lobbying continues on the fund (see 2009250031). CAC members expressed concerns at meeting's end that broadband still isn’t reaching all of the U.S. CAC heard similar complaints at its last meeting (see 2004280011).

“We have a lot of work to do,” said Virginia Tech associate professor Irene Leech, representing the Consumer Federation of America. Rural “areas are really going to have trouble being self-sufficient economically. … What we have been learning in COVID has just multiplied and reinforced where things are,” she said. Leech has to go to her office to get adequate connectivity, and her students complain they can’t do remote learning at home. “We really have got a long way to go,” she said.

“The bandwidth that we’re putting out there might not be enough” said Appalachian Regional Commission Manager Mark Defalco. “Because of COVID and work at home, and because of virtual learning with kids, the uplink speeds” are very important, he said, and those from USF-subsidized networks aren’t sufficient. “We need to look at what we are doing and asking is it really working for rural America,” which is “clearly still being left behind,” he said.

Commissioner Brendan Carr encouraged the panel to continue telehealth work. He said he recently was in states including Nevada, Michigan, Ohio and Florida. “Providers talked about going from almost no telehealth visits or a handful of visits to just an order of magnitude increase in a matter of weeks,” he said: They say "without the FCC’s support, they wouldn’t have been able to do that.”