Bill Nelson: “In 2010 Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Truth in Caller ID Act, which prohibits caller ID…”

“In 2010 Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Truth in Caller ID Act, which prohibits caller ID spoofing when it is used to defraud or harm Americans. What is caller ID spoofing? It is a technique that allows a telephone caller to alter the phone number that appears on the recipient's Caller ID screen. In other words, spoofing allows someone to hide behind a misleading telephone number to try to scam consumers or trick law enforcement officers. The Truth in Caller ID Act put in place tough new sanctions to crack down on phone scams, empowering States to help the Federal Government track down and punish these fraudsters. Since then spoofing technology has evolved to give fraudsters new tools to pull the wool over our eyes. They take advantage of innovative text messaging services to trick unsuspecting Americans into sending money or providing sensitive personal information. I believe our laws must evolve and adapt to the new tactics and technologies used by these criminals. That is why I am introducing the Phone Scam Prevention Act of 2014, to update the protections we put in place in 2010 and give consumers the tools they need to help them protect themselves. The bill does 3 simple things. First, it extends the current prohibition on Caller ID spoofing to calls coming from outside the United States and stops crooks from using text messaging services to scam consumers.…”