Posted: | December 17, 2018 01:45 PM |
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From: | Representative Karen Boback |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Caller ID Spoofing |
In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation from last Session (House Bill 979) that will amend Title 18 of the PA Consolidated Statutes and add the offense of false caller identification information display. Current technology allows a person, either through a computer program or through the use of specialized equipment to change the caller identification information that is displayed on a telephone. This tactic, called “spoofing” allows individuals to make it appear that a call is coming from a number or business other than that of the actual caller and can be used to defraud, harass or induce call recipients to divulge sensitive or confidential information. In 2009, hundreds of Lancaster County residents were contacted by crooks that, through the use of spoofing equipment, pretended to be a local bank and asked call recipients for account details and other financial information. This legislation will make it a misdemeanor for any person to cause false caller identification information to be displayed on a recipients telephone, with the intent to harass or defraud the call recipient. The penalty for a first offense is a $2,500 fine and up to one-year in prison. Second or subsequent offenses are subject to a $5,000 fine and up to 2-years in prison. This legislation does 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. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. Previous cosponsors: DEAN, MILLARD, D. COSTA, PICKETT, MURT, DRISCOLL, V. BROWN, SAYLOR, WATSON, A. HARRIS, O'NEILL, MOUL, SCHLOSSBERG, STAATS, WARD, PEIFER, FARRY, GABLER, FREEMAN AND KORTZ, BRIGGS, MICCARELLI, and DAVIS |
Introduced as HB485