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By Forum Staff
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation that seeks to combat a widespread telephone scam known as spoofing.
According to Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), the bill’s sponsor, under the spoofing scheme, criminals disguise their caller ID to make it appear that they’re calling from a government agency, financial institution, law enforcement office or other official entity. They then steal large sums of money from those they call by tricking victims into wiring cash or providing personal information such as Social Security or bank account numbers.
The Anti-Spoofing Act, which passed the House by a count of 382-5, would crack down on the scheme by strengthening the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, Meng said. The new measure aims to:
- Broaden the law to prohibit spoofing from abroad. Presently, spoofing to defraud Americans is not against the law if the calls originate from outside the U.S., Meng noted.
- Broaden the law to include new internet-based Voice over Internet Protocol services that enable callers to make outgoing-only calls from computers and tablets to mobile and landline phones, a practice that has contributed significantly to the spoofing problem, according to the congresswoman.
- Broaden the law to include text messaging, a spoofing method that fraudsters use with increased regularity.
“Millions of unsuspecting Americans continue to get ripped off through this unconscionable scam,” Meng said. “We must do all we can to combat it and my bill would go a long way towards accomplishing that critical goal. I’ve heard heartbreaking stories of individuals losing thousands of dollars because scammers duped them into believing that they would be arrested or fined if they failed to immediately pay up. We cannot allow these con artists to keep preying upon innocent consumers. I applaud the House for passing my legislation and I call on the Senate to immediately approve it as well.”
