UPDATE: Bill that targets ‘spoof’ call companies passed by Legislature

UPDATE:

Chances are, you’ve gotten spoof calls.

They’re calls from a telemarketers or other entities that use fake caller ID numbers that look like they’re local.

They’re annoying, but can also be scams.

“They call me, they tell me what they’re doing,” David Leavitt said.  “I tell them they’re full of the four–letter word and hang up on them.”

“It’s gotten to the point where any call that I don’t have saved, I block,” Alex Roberts said.  “And sometimes I block family, so it’d be nice not to have to worry about that anymore.”

She and others may not have to because on Thursday, lawmakers unanimously passed a bill that would allow the attorney general to investigate telemarketers who manipulate caller ID info and ban selling or renting phone numbers to out–of–state entities.

Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings, who proposed the bill, said it won’t solve the problem right away, but it’s a start.

“They’re not going to stop seeing these calls come in tomorrow, but they will at least know that the attorney general will have authority to pursue these people that are fraudulently misrepresenting themselves,” Halloran said.  “And over time, it will improve.”

Halloran said it would also help get the telecommunications industry to trace where these calls are coming from.

But how effective do people think it will be?

“They’ll just keep calling anyway, probably,” Leavitt said.

“I assume it’s not going to probably be 100 percent perfected the first time around, but I would just hope that it would just filter out enough where we can not have apps on our phones to screen these calls.”

Sen. Halloran said eventually, it could encourage the FCC to become more involved.

“I believe that we’ll be able to materially share information in conjunction with others states and the federal government in tracking these folks down and bring them to task.”

Sen. Halloran said it’s a popular bill and he can’t foresee the governor not signing it into law.

_________________________________________________________________________________
Chances are, you’ve gotten spoof calls.

Those pesky calls that show up as local numbers, but are actually out of state.  They’re annoying, but can also be fraudulent.

On Thursday, the Nebraska Legislature unanimously passed a bill that aims to crack down on them.

It would allow the attorney general to investigate telemarketers who manipulate caller ID info and ban selling or renting phone numbers to out–of–state entities.

The bill would also prohibit someone working with a telecommunications or internet-enabled voice service from causing a caller ID service to knowingly provide misleading or inaccurate information with the intent to defraud, harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.

Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings proposed the bill.  He said it won’t solve the problem right away, but it’s a start.

“They’re not going to stop seeing these calls come in tomorrow,” Halloran said.  “But they will at least know that the attorney general will have authority to pursue these people that are fraudulently misrepresenting themselves.  And over time, it will improve.”

He said it’s a popular bill and he can’t foresee the governor not signing it into law.

_________________________________________________________________________________
A bill that targets companies that use ‘spoof’ calls was unanimously passed by the Nebraska Legislature. 

Lawmakers on Thursday voted 49-0 to pass the bill, which would allow for investigations of telemarketers who knowingly manipulate caller ID information to make it appear as though a call is coming from a different number. 

The bill prohibits the selling or renting of a phone number to an out-of-state entity unless that number is listed publicly and can be verified by a telecommunications provider.

The bill also prohibits someone working with a telecommunications or internet-enabled voice service from causing a caller ID service to knowingly provide misleading or inaccurate information with the intent to defraud, harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.