Submitted Article
Legislation to increase penalties for those found guilty of caller identification spoofing, introduced by Rep. Karen Boback (Lackawanna/Luzerne/Wyoming), passed unanimously out of the House Judiciary Committee earlier today.
House Bill 979 is intended to specifically address the practice of spoofing, which occurs when individuals use technology to make it appear that a call is coming from a number or business other than that of the actual caller. Spoofing can be used to defraud, harass or induce call recipients to divulge sensitive or confidential information.
This legislation would make it a misdemeanor for any person to cause false caller identification information to be displayed on a recipient’s telephone, with the intent to harass or defraud the call recipient.
The bill would not apply to the blocking of caller identification information, to law enforcement agencies, federal intelligence or security agencies, or to a telecommunications, broadband or voice-over-internet protocol service provider that is acting solely as an intermediary for the transmission of service between the caller and call recipient.
“Thousands of Pennsylvanians receive spoofing calls every day,” said Boback. “They are not only a nuisance, but are often intended to fraudulently obtain sensitive information from innocent people. Senior citizens are particularly susceptible to this scam, and I hope we can enact this legislation in short order to ensure this illegal practice is stopped.”
The bill must now be considered by the House.