FCC has issued new rules requiring US wireless operators to block fraudulent text messages.

CTOnews.com March 17, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced the passage of a new bill requiring wireless companies, including operators, to block fraudulent text messages.

CTOnews.com translated part of the FCC press release as follows:

The report and administrative order passed today require operators to block suspected fraudulent text messages and prohibit invalid, unassigned or unused numbers from sending text messages.

The ban also includes numbers that claim to never send text messages, as well as numbers marked by government agencies and other well-known entities as not used to send text messages.

The number of complaints about fraudulent text messages increased from 3300 to 18900 a year from 2015 to 2022, FCC said. FCC points out that unlike fraudulent robot calls, which are easily overlooked, people who receive text messages almost always read them immediately. If users interact with them, it may cause malware to be downloaded to their phones, or users may be attacked by phishing programs.

According to a report released this month by the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI), Americans lost $10.3 billion last year to various online frauds (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 70.658 billion yuan).

The report shows that the most common type of crime is phishing, in which 300497 victims were caught up in the scam of more than $52 million. "phishing" refers to emails, text messages or phone calls from unknown sources that claim to be from legitimate companies, requiring victims to provide personal information, financial information or login information. Phishing is often successful because phishing emails are often similar to those sent by people the victim knows, prompting them to click on insecure links.