Legislation intended to reduce “spoofing” passed the House on a voice vote Tuesday evening. The Anti-Spoofing Bill of 2013, HR 3670, which was introduced by Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX), Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Grace Meng (D-NY), will reduce the number of fraudulent phone calls and texts that millions of Americans constantly receive. The scheme, known as spoofing, consists of fake names and phone numbers being displayed on recipients’ caller IDs in order to trick them into answering the phone or replying to text messages.
The practice is widely used by scammers and unscrupulous telemarketers. They use technology to disguise their numbers and identities to make their calls appear legitimate. Deceitful telemarketers employ the practice to dishonestly sell their merchandise, and fraudsters use it to obtain personal or financial information by misrepresenting themselves as, among other things, government agencies, hospitals, banks, pharmacies and credit card companies. WATCH Rep. Barton's floor speech by clicking here.
Rep. Barton issued the following statement after the bill’s passage:
“Scammers are using technology to work around an outdated law. The practice of spoofing needs to be stopped! This bill will broaden protections for consumers by holding spoofing companies outside the US accountable, stopping abusers from using text messages, and including IP-enabled voice services. I am happy to have struck this balance with those we worked with on this legislation, and I am glad to have the support of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Again, I want to thank my colleagues Representatives Meng and Lance for the time they gave to get this bill to where it is today.”
