[VoiceOps] STIR/SHAKEN concerns

[Brooks Bridges]

"6. Criminals always seem to be creative. Have you seen any new methods 
scammers are using to get around STIR/SHAKEN process?"

Not exactly criminal and not really "getting around" the process, but 
I've seen a few calls across different networks I run that they've set 
"Verified" as the CNAM for the number, so it *kind of* looks like it's 
S/S validated if you're not paying that close of attention.  Of course, 
it was a shady payday loan shop, not really a "scam" but not far from it 
either IMO...

On 8/19/2021 7:22 PM, Mary Lou Carey wrote:
> I am doing some research for an article so I wanted to ask all of you 
> some questions about STIR/SHAKEN and the upcoming implementation in 
> late September when traffic will start getting blocked. I personally 
> envision the first few months will be a nightmare! Ironically this 
> will all hit just as elections are about to take place......how 
> convenient! When the industry missed so many steps on the 
> implementation phase, there's sure to be things they've missed in this 
> phase so let's think ahead so we can address as many problems as we 
> can before they happen! I specifically want to focus on the effect the 
> changes are having and will have on end user customers. Not only 
> residential and small business customers, but enterprise customers 
> such as schools, hospitals, banks, political organizations, and other 
> industries that use call centers. Please respond to the questions 
> below and let me know your thoughts.
>
> 1. Have you seen any changes in the industry since the June 30th 
> implementation date. I have witnessed a few odd routing issues that 
> have never happened in the past. I'm not sure if they are a fluke or a 
> trend. Have you experienced anything out of the ordinary?
>
> 2. If your network is partially TDM and partially VOIP, have you 
> experienced any issues with either of them? What are your future 
> concerns since STIR/SHAKEN does not work with TDM?
>
> 3. My biggest complaint as a residential consumer is that caller ID no 
> longer shows up like it did. Unless I have the number in my phone, I 
> only see something along the lines of Scam Likely or a phone number 
> with no caller ID. I find this quite irritating since it prevents me 
> from determining if its a friend whose carrier hasn't implemented it 
> yet or an actual scammer. Anyone else have complaints about what 
> information is being passed?
>
> 4. Are you getting more complaints from your customers about anything 
> related to STIR/SHAKEN? What are the nature of the complaints? Is 
> there a recurring theme?
>
> 5. What is your customer's impression of what a Robocall is? My son 
> claims he's getting more SCAM calls than he was before but I'm not 
> sure he understands what a Robocall is. He may consider any 
> advertisement or donation request a robocall, but some things are 
> allowed while others aren't. What are you doing to help your customers 
> understand what's allowed and what's not allowed?
>
> 6. If you're hearing from customers about scam calls they are getting, 
> are you reporting those calls to anyone? If so, who are you reporting 
> them to?
>
> 6. Criminals always seem to be creative. Have you seen any new methods 
> scammers are using to get around STIR/SHAKEN process?
>
> 7. One of my greatest concerns I have about the September 
> implementation is that carriers will get no warning if/when they are 
> going to be blocked. I haven't seen anything that states a terminating 
> carrier or intermediate carrier has to give a warning muchless 
> disclose that they will start blocking another carrier's traffic. 
> Maybe there is a hotline to call if your traffic is being blocked 
> unjustly, but I haven't heard of any. Have you? Normal routing issues 
> are already a nightmare to deal with. Hopefully this will not make it 
> worse or just another method for anti-competitive carriers to take out 
> their competition!
>
> 8. The last question leads me to the next one. I know there are some 
> carriers using their underlying carrier's certificate so they didn't 
> register for the Robocall Mitigation Database. I didn't recommend 
> this, but I heard through the grapevine some consultants / underlying 
> carriers did. If those who didn't sign up for the Robocall Mitigation 
> Database have legitimate traffic shut down, what will happen to all 
> their legitimate customers? Will they be out of service until the ITG 
> gets around to figuring it out? Has anyone heard of a plan to address 
> the impact on consumers displaced by this?
>
> 9. Has anyone heard of a centralized contact to deal with unjust 
> blocking complaints? We all know nothing goes perfectly but I would 
> think it will be important for everyone to know what number to call 
> should they have problems BEFORE this change is implemented. Have any 
> of you heard anything? I haven't!
>
>
> 10. I tried to keep my list simple but I would love to hear your 
> thoughts on anything I missed.
>
>
> Thanks for all your input,
>
> MARY LOU CAREY
> BackUP Telecom Consulting
> Office: 615-791-9969
> Cell: 615-796-1111
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