The hackers ported the Daly City woman's landline number to a cell phone, then used it with other stolen information to steal $25,000 from her bank account.
Starting late next year, debt collectors will be able to contact consumers by email, text message and even through social media.
The case, argued by telephone in May because of the coronavirus pandemic, only arose after Congress in 2015 created an exception in the law that allowed the automated calls for collection of government debt.
The new law gives authorities more enforcement powers and could speed up measures to identify robocalls. And when phone companies block robocalls, they must do so without charging consumers.
A 48-year-old man from Twentynine Palms is accused of making more than 10,000 threatening and harassing calls to government agencies this year.
In the past 12 months, more than 76,000 complaints about impostors were reported, according to the Federal Trade Commission.