CRTC to Make Telcos Use New Framework to Fight Caller ID Spoofing in 2020

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has announced this morning it will take further measures to fight caller ID spoofing, set to take place by September 30, 2020.

The Commission says it will have telcos implement the framework known as STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephony Information Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs):

STIR/SHAKEN will enable service providers to certify whether a caller’s identity can be trusted by authenticating and verifying the caller ID information for Internet Protocol-based voice calls. This new framework will empower Canadians to determine which calls are authenticated, reducing the frequency and impact of caller ID spoofing.

The CRTC says telecoms that do not have caller ID blocking services for customers “must implement a system to block certain types of calls within their networks before the end of the year.”

Recent caller ID spoofing scams have resulted in many Canadians getting ripped off by overseas con artists.



The CRTC says they are “working with the industry” to create a process to locate spam calls back to their origins.

Ian Scott, Chairperson and CEO, CRTC, said in a statement, “Nuisance calls are a major irritant for many Canadians. We are committed to addressing this issue and are working with the industry and our partners to better protect consumers. The new STIR/SHAKEN framework will enable Canadians to know, before they answer the phone, whether a call is legitimate or whether it should be treated with suspicion.”

If you get an unknown call, don’t answer it. Also, never give out your personal info or banking details over the phone. The CRA will also never ask you to make payments with iTunes gift cards.

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