I started this petition because this problem is no longer something I can simply read about and ignore.

Someone I know personally has been targeted repeatedly by scammers. I helped him escape a scam once before, only to watch scammers reach him again using the same familiar tactics — a supposed woman nearby, repeated excuses about why she cannot meet him, and requests for money and gift cards.

In just one recent week, I discovered more than $500 in Amazon and Apple gift-card purchases connected to suspected scams.

Watching someone you care about get pulled back into this cycle makes one thing painfully clear: warning people about scams is not enough. We need to make it harder for scammers to reach them in the first place.

And this problem extends far beyond one person.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported losing $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a 25% increase from the previous year. Adults age 60 and older alone reported approximately $2.4 billion in fraud losses in 2024.

Phone scams remain particularly dangerous. The FTC found that among older adults who reported losing money to fraud originating with a phone call in 2024, the median reported loss was $2,210.

Scammers can manipulate caller ID and use phone networks to make calls appear more trustworthy than they really are. An unfamiliar overseas operation can appear on someone's phone as a number that looks ordinary or familiar.

Americans should not have to become telecommunications experts simply to decide whether answering their telephone is safe.

What We Are Asking For
We call on Congress, the FCC, and the telecommunications industry to strengthen protections against fraudulent and deceptive calls by:

Requiring clear identification of international calls when technically possible
Clearly displaying caller verification status
Strengthening blocking of suspicious and unverified calls
Improving detection of spoofed caller ID and suspicious routing
Holding telecommunications providers accountable for implementing effective anti-scam safeguards
Fines and prosecutions remain important, but many scammers operate outside the United States and beyond the practical reach of American victims.

Prevention must become a bigger part of the solution.

Every signature represents another American saying that families should not have to watch parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors lose their savings before something is done.

Americans deserve a phone system they can trust.

Please sign this petition and share it with one other person. Together, we can demand stronger protections before another family becomes the next victim.