CRTC gives service providers a year to reduce scam calls

Canada’s telephone industry regulator is trying cut down on the number of nuisance calls you get.

The CRTC is giving service providers one year to put in measures to reduce the number of scam calls that get through to consumers.

By Dec. 19, 2019, service providers must be able to block numbers that are clearly fake, like 000-000-0000, or ones that exceed 15 digits.

It’s the CRTC’s latest attempt to deal with the ongoing and annoying problem of unwanted calls.

A do-not-call list has been in place for about a decade but hasn’t been overly effective.

Consumers can register their numbers and file complaints but there are a number of ways to get around the system.