A new technology that aims to combat scam robocalls in Canada appears to be showing positive early signs, experts say.
In late November, the CRTC required all phone service providers to use the STIR/SHAKEN technology, which flags out spam calls.
“Before, fraudsters would use VOIP — voice over IP. So not traditional numbers but essentially internet phone numbers, and they were able to mask the caller ID to make it look legitimate,” cybersecurity and tech analyst Ritesh Kotak told Global News.
“It’s essentially a digital handshake to validate that number and if that number is not validated, then it shouldn’t be going through, thus it doesn’t reach the user.”
Carmi Levy, a technology analyst based in London, Ont., says while it’s too early to have concrete data, early reports suggest the technology is already cutting back on scam calls.
“The volume and frequency of these calls is heading in the right direction, it is going down,” Levy said.
“People are reporting — again, anecdotally — that they are getting fewer of these calls. It’s less annoying now than it was this before change went into effect.”
Levy says similar technology has proven successful in the United States. But he also warns that it’s not a single solution, and scammers will eventually find a…
