A $10,000 fine per illegal robocall could become the law

(FOX 46 WJZY) - A bill in the U.S. Senate would slam those behind annoying robocalls with hefty fines.

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), introduced the Telephone Consumer Protection Act this month.

The act would give regulators more time to find scammers, increase civil forfeiture penalties for those caught, promote call authentication and blocking adoption, and bring relevant federal agencies and state attorneys general together to address impediments to criminal prosecution of robocallers who intentionally flout laws, Markey announced in a news release.

"The TRACED Act targets robocall scams and other intentional violations of telemarketing laws so that when authorities do catch violators, they can be held accountable," said Thune. "Existing civil penalty rules were designed to impose penalties on lawful telemarketers who make mistakes. This enforcement regime is totally inadequate for scam artists and we need do more to separate enforcement of carelessness and other mistakes from more sinister actors."

"As the scourge of spoofed calls and robocalls reaches epidemic levels, the bipartisan TRACED Act will provide every person with a phone much needed relief," said Markey. "It's a simple formula: call authentication, blocking, and enforcement, and this bill achieves all three. I thank Chairman Thune for his partnership on this effort, and look forward to seeing this legislation through to its passage."

For more information on this bill, click here.