Robocalls are hard to stop, for a variety of reasons.
There are many operators, some overseas beyond reach of America’s law enforcement; they’re nimble at going around or keeping ahead of technological and other obstacles thrown in their way; and the phone industry is highly fragmented, making enforcement difficult.
Also, regulators are reluctant to criminally prosecute violators, preferring to rely on civil enforcement and seek hefty fines (for government’s coffers).
And the federal FTC and FCC can’t prosecute anyone; they must refer criminal cases to the Department of Justice, which can decline them.
But CNN says the tools are getting better, particularly by automating the tracing of robocalls to their source, which speeds up investigations; and there’s also more coordination among the 50 states and with telecom carrier.
And there’s ongoing enforcement efforts. For example, one of the biggest U.S.-based robocalling operations — responsible for billions of spam calls — appears to be currently shut down while the two California men behind it are being sued by Ohio’ attorney general (read story here). Those two men apparently were responsible for 80% of robocalls selling scammy car warranties.
However, the robocall plague is far from being eradicated; there’s still a long way to go. But at least someone’s working on it.