Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly announced his support for the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014, a bipartisan bill introduced today by Senators Bill  Nelson (D-FL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) that would help protect seniors and all Hoosiers from spoofing and phone scams where criminals use technology to hide their true location and identity to scam consumers. Donnelly, who serves on the Special Committee on Aging, also testified Wednesday at a committee hearing on stemming the tide of phone scams. (Watch Donnelly’s remarks at the Aging hearing here.)

Donnelly said, “Seniors and all Hoosiers should have peace of mind knowing they can answer their phones free from the risk of having a criminal on the other end of the line seeking to scam them. This bipartisan legislation would take steps to help protect seniors and all consumers from phone scams by giving people additional protection and closing existing loopholes. We must work together—both Democrats and Republicans as well as government and private industry—to crack down on spoofing and phone scams.”

Consumer fraud and identify theft, including phone scams, have been and continue to be a significant problem in the United States and in Indiana. Scammers often contact unsuspecting individuals — frequently targeting seniors — and trick them into providing personal information or giving money for schemes or false fees.

In 2013, Indiana registered 24,777 cases of fraud and other consumer complaints and 3,845 cases of identity theft. Imposter scams were the most common type of fraud that impacted Indiana, as Hoosiers reported more than 2,400 imposter scams in 2013.

The Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014 seeks to address spoofing and phone scams through several provisions, including:

• Ensuring consumers have access to whitelist services: Several phone companies currently offer a whitelist service to their customers, where only approved phone numbers can get through to the consumer’s phone. All other numbers are forward to a voicemail or re-routed to a different phone number. Where it’s possible, phone companies would be required to provide whitelist services to consumers, allowing them to designate at least 10 numbers free-of-charge for the list. Government agencies and other entities that the FCC determines serves the public interest would be exempt.
• Developing standards to authenticate call origination: Scammers often spoof caller ID information to impersonate family members, government agencies, or well-known businesses. Fraudsters also often claim to be in the United States, when in fact they are calling from another country.
• Extending the ban on caller ID spoofing to include calls from abroad and text messaging services: In 2009, the Truth in Caller ID Act was signed into law, which prohibits caller ID spoofing when it is used to defraud or harm Americans. In the past few years, technology has evolved, and scammers increasingly call from overseas and use text messaging. This legislation would extend the current ban on caller ID spoofing to callers outside of the U.S. and those using text messaging services to scam consumers.

Donnelly’s support of the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014  continues his efforts to empower and protect Hoosiers from scams and fraud. In August, Donnelly hosted a Field Hearing of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in Indianapolis to help Hoosier seniors recognize potential warning signs of financial predators, including scams and fraud schemes. In September, Donnelly’s office released a white paper on consumer fraud and scams that target senior citizens. Read the white paper here.

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Press Contact

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