For decades, telemarketing robocalls have proven to be an unprecedented annoyance to American consumers. As call spoofing tech has gotten cheaper and easier to use, a decade of wireless carrier apathy mixed with inconsistent government enforcement has left the United States perpetually behind in the battle to thwart the scam and marketing assault. And despite endless government initiatives, updated regulations and a laundry list of promises from industry, the problem is worse than ever.

Data compiled by the YouMail Robocall Index indicates that 3.4 billion robocalls were placed nationwide in April 2018, or roughly 10.4 calls per person affected. The report notes that AT&T users are robocalled the most frequently, averaging of 15.1 robocalls per person per month, followed by T-Mobile users with 14.8 robocalls each. The company also tracked robocalls by the type of scam being pushed, noting that mortgage interest rate scams, credit card scams, student loan scams, business loan scams and IRS scams were the top five most common. And they’re all getting worse. "There was a big surge in scam calls in March, with the top three financial scams estimated to reach a combined 276.4 million calls alone, up a full 33% from 207.4 million in February," YouMail notes. "In addition, IRS-related scam calls nearly doubled in March from February, making it the 5th most common scam, and Home Security Scams were up over four times, leaping into 9th place." Data released by the FTC shows that there were 4.5 million consumer complaints about robocalls in 2017, a dramatic increase from the 3.4 million consumer complaints government received the year before. The surge in annoying calls comes despite repeated, highly-publicized efforts by government agencies to tackle the problem. In 2015, the FCC passed new rules expanding the ability of telecommunication companies to block robocalls and spam messages at the request of customers. And in 2016, the agency created a “robocalling strike force” tasked with crafting solutions for the problem. Rules were expanded again in 2017 to take aim at the practice of caller ID spoofing. Earlier this month, the FCC announced that the agency had levied a record $120 million fine against a Florida man, Adrian Abramovich, for making almost 100 million spoofed robocalls over three months. "The evidence indicates that Abramovich is the perpetrator of one of the largest—and most dangerous—illegal robocalling campaigns that the Commission has ever investigated," the FCC said in its complaint.

Current FCC boss Ajit Pai has stated repeatedly that ending the “scourge” of robocalls is the agency’s “top consumer protection priority.” So why is the problem getting worse?

For one, inexpensive, internet-routed calling and spoofing options have easily outpaced both technical and legal solutions to the problem, leaving regulators constantly trying to keep up from behind. Inherently flimsy security standards embedded in most caller ID systems also make spoofing relatively trivial.

But another problem is that while regulators are quick to take aim at smaller robocallers that make for easy enforcement targets, they often turn a blind eye toward consistent enforcement when it comes to larger, more politically-potent companies. And when they do act, well-funded lawyers ensure the glacial application of justice, if justice arrives at all. Charter Spectrum, for example, has faced two different lawsuits in recent years over robocalling users to upsell cable TV bundles. Dish Network was also recently ordered to pay $280 million in penalties for violating Do Not Call laws, but only after eight long years of litigation.

Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center, recently testified before the Senate Commerce Committee noting that just two of the top 20 robocallers in the United States were actually scammers.