Anti-Caller ID Spoofing Bill Goes To Oklahoma Senate

A bill against caller ID spoofing - or using a fake caller ID number - has passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives and will go before the Senate. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=7653531">Putting A Stop to Caller Spoofing</a>&nbsp;| <a href="http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/griffin/NEWSon6/PDF/1003/spoofingbill.pdf" target="_blank">Anti-Spoofing Bill</a>

Thursday, March 11th 2010, 9:46 pm

By: News On 6


By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The anti-caller ID spoofing act has passed the Oklahoma House and now heads to the state Senate. The bill would protect people from getting scammed by people using fake caller ID.

It's a direct response to a News On 6 story aired in 2006.

Caller ID spoofing is technology that lets callers put any number they want in someone else's caller ID. It has some legitimate uses, but for scammers and stalkers, it's a dream come true.

In 2006, The News On 6 showed how caller ID spoofing could be used by scammers to claim they were with a charity and ask for money.

2/8/2007 Related Story: Putting A Stop to Caller Spoofing

"I'm with the United Way, raising money for our many programs. Could I interest you in donating to the United Way?" said an impersonator with The News On 6.

At the time, Kathleen Coan was the CEO of the United Way and didn't like it one bit, when we showed her how easy it was for us to impersonate United Way fundraisers.

"Oh, that's terrible, absolutely terrible," Coan said of the scamming call.

Similar technology can be used to send spoof emails. People can make it look like an email is sent by someone else and the person who receives it has no way of knowing.

The News On 6 sent one to its own Chief Meteorologist Travis Meyer and made it look like it came from his boss saying all radar equipment was being removed.

"I think that is very scary, so many possibilities that opens up," Meyer said.

Spoof text messages are also possible. People can send a text and make it look like it came from another number.

Stalkers do it all the time, and one Green Country man nearly lost his job when someone sent obscene text messages, making it look like they came from his phone.

"It's a hole in the system, and bad guys will take advantage of it until the hole is closed," said Tim Stader, computer expert.

After the 2006 story aired, a state senator proposed a bill to make spoofing illegal, but it didn't pass. That same year, the United States Congress tried to pass a similar law, but it also failed.

Now, a state senator is trying again to protect Oklahomans from spoofers.

The bill allows caller ID spoofing for legitimate purposes. For example, if a doctor calls a patient from home but doesn't want the patient to have his personal number, he makes it look like he's calling from the office – that's legal.

It's people who use spoofing to deceive someone else into giving up personal information or as a means of defrauding someone, that becomes a misdemeanor. If it passes, it'll go into effect November 1st. 

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