TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A panel of Florida state senators advanced legislation Wednesday that would make it harder for fraudulent telemarketers to mask their true identities, a move aimed at reducing scams targeting senior citizens.
Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican, sponsor of SB 1516, told her colleagues that spoofed numbers or other deceptive caller ID practices contributed to rising reports of fraudulent calls targeting people over 60.
She pointed to a Federal Trade Commission report indicating that, between 2020 and 2024, the number of reports from older adults that they lost more than $10,000 in those scams increased fourfold.
[VIDEO BELOW: News 6 handyman investigation]
As technology advances, she warned, previous state efforts to curb telemarketer fraud are not keeping up.
“We want to get ahead of this very, very advanced AI digital age where basically they are circumventing everything we currently have in place,” Garcia said.
The Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism approved the measure unanimously.
Under the bill, telecommunications companies that provide fraudulent caller ID information to consumers for telephone calls or text messages could face civil penalties of up to $250,000.
The bill does not apply to law enforcement activities.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, said he was “excited” to support the measure.
“If there’s one thing that all of us in this chamber can agree on is, it’s how annoying fraudulent robocalls are,” he quipped.
[VIDEO BELOW: How to avoid becoming scam victim]
A similar bill (HB 1299) has also been filed in the House, but it hasn’t received a hearing.
Garcia’s effort is the latest attempt by officials at both the state and federal laws to stop the proliferation of unwanted calls and text messages from scammers and telemarketers. But the problem has only grown as the use of internet-based telephone systems has increased, and automated services make it easier for companies to place calls with fewer human workers monitoring the responses.
In 2009, for example, Congress passed the Truth in Caller ID Act, which prevents people or companies from using fraudulent caller ID information with penalties of up to $10,000 per call.
But the law is limited in scope. It only applies in instances when the caller has “the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongly obtain anything of value.”
Florida lawmakers have wrestled with the issue several times in recent years. In 2021, they passed a law to clamp down on unsolicited calls and messages. But after a flurry of lawsuits targeting businesses that allegedly violated the law, legislators in 2023 made it harder for customers to bring lawsuits against telemarketers for violating the law.
Under Garcia’s proposal, telecommunications companies must provide the originating telephone number and location and must block all telephone calls and text messages with manipulated caller ID information that does not match the original number or location.
If the bill clears the Legislature, the changes would take effect Oct. 1.