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FCC Ups Penalties For Caller ID Spoofing
GovTechGuy writes "The FCC adopted new rules on Thursday that would significantly increase the penalties for individuals or organizations that alter their caller ID information to commit fraud or with other harmful intent. The new rules allow the FCC to fine violators $10,000 per violation plus more for every day it continues. Users can still change their caller ID info as long as it's not for fraud or harmful purposes."
Is telemarketing harmful? Because every time I get one of those bastards calling me, I want to harm them.
(Yes, I know about the DNC list. I'm on a cell phone)
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
So how exactly do they define fraud? Is it fraud it I make someone else's name show up to protect my privacy? Is a prank harmful to the other party?
Even if you threaten them with the death penalty.
After all, it's just phone calls. If there was oil at stake we'd send the Marines in a heartbeat.~
>> fine violators up to $10,000 every time they change their caller ID information with the intent to commit harm.
I wasn't intending to "harm" them your honor.
The FCC is supposed to be regulating the telcos, not the People. That's supposed to take an Act of Congress.
We already have fraud statutes - they should be used.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
How about making it a crime to have a robocall from a politician that has spoofed caller ID?
I'm pretty sure when I was getting phone calls for the 000-000-0000 was not a valid phone number.... and was simply used to block anon call blocking.
I've always wanted to spoof my number as "8008135".
I have 3 different phones, but I want users to call me back on one number!
I wish those friggin advertising calls wouldn't be allowed to spoof their numbers. As far as I am concerned, getting some stupid marketing company cold-calling my cell even though I am already on donotcall.gov IS harmful.
The FCC missed the opportunity to stop this crime wave against, mostly, elderly semi-disabled seniors in their kitchens. The FCC could easily have said that a local phone company that "knows" (because of complaints or otherwise) it is delivering spoofed cid calls can be held liable. Instead, this lame rule perpetuates the current model -- the phone company gets paid for terminating calls, turns a blind eye, and large numbers of old people who have never even used a computer get whacked by spoofers.
Rather than parsing a sparse recitation of a press release, people wanting more information could always read the actual document justifying and implementing the new rules:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-11-100A1.pdf
I'm a lawyer, but not yours. I wouldn't represent someone who thinks taking legal advice from Slashdot is a good idea.
While we're at it, let's ban those stupid calls where they use an unlisted number as well. The majority of the calls I get from telemarketers don't pop up with any meaningful information on my caller ID.
Yeasayers neither hath neglect nor
inasmuch the tri-trickle marginal oceans
mint for The rocking morning but testing
proves? Or trial with courage? Progress.
coming calls alert protocol sparks then
agitation neglect nor morning rocking
hachure arsenal of Batteries flowing society
Come for TrisexualPuppy
-gen+
I get sometimes 3 or 4 calls in one day from "Account Services", a scam company that tries to get credit card info from people. I'm on the do-not-call list, and they sometimes even call my cell phone. They do robo calls and they spoof caller id. It's illegal in many different ways.
But I can't get the FCC to pay any attention to them, and I've tried.
They might as well up the penalties to $5 Trillion + death penalty. It doesn't matter. If you're not going to enforce it the actual penalty is irrelevant.
Do you have ESP?
There is a guy who makes over $100k/year by reporting people who call him. He purposefully signed up for the do-not-call, but then indirectly gets his names into calling lists. He doesn't request to be solicited, but he knows how certain companies abusively data mine phone numbers and gets his numbers in areas that aren't suppose to be shared, but are.
I guess when you report someone, you also get some of the money from the fine, or at least he did in his state.
*67 in the states to get around it and go anonymous. Nobody is likely to answer, but you can always leave a message or try again later. I recall (no pun intended) that a fella craiglisting some game I wanted to buy wouldn't answer his phone but posted it in his duplicate ad on FleeBay. I called, and called, and 2 months later the guy finally answered and explained why he had not been answering. I told him, hey, answer your damn phone if you post an ad with the number. Lesson is you can spoof, you can hike (Skype out has no real numbers associated with it) and of course you can just not call or answer if you choose. But stop wasting time with people if you ask to be called, and then don't answer your phone.
reporting someone gets you no money. but, you can privately sue. and settle. If we're talking about the same guy, I think that's his process. If I recall, certain frequent offenders know him by name. he's a cost of doing business to them. it still works for them because he's a rarity.
Just because your number is in DNC registry don't mean squat, I am still regularly receiving unsolicited marketing calls (robocalls and human calls) on both land line and cell line (both of which are on DNC registry.) Yes, I get the urge to introduce the caller to my nail ridden 2x4 clue stick every time I get those calls too.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2010/octqtr/47cfr64.1200.htm
print that out read it and have it on you when you get one of these calls.
it begins
" (a) No person or entity may: (1) Initiate any telephone call (other
than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express
consent of the called party) using an automatic telephone dialing system
or an artificial or prerecorded voice;
(i) To any emergency telephone line, including any 911 line and any
emergency line of a hospital, medical physician or service office,
health care facility, poison control center, or fire protection or law
enforcement agency;
(ii) To the telephone line of any guest room or patient room of a
hospital, health care facility, elderly home, or similar establishment;
or
(iii) To any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular
telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio
common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is
charged for the call.."
oh and just for fun it also includes this bit
"(4) Identification of sellers and telemarketers. A person or entity
making a call for telemarketing purposes must provide the called party
with the name of the individual caller, the name of the person or entity
on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or
address at which the person or entity may be contacted. The telephone
number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which
charges exceed local or long distance transmission charges."
i think most call centers will dump the call if you even breath 47CFR64.1200 (or invoke federal law)
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
This is worthless pandering. The fact is that there is no way for the receiver of a spoofed CID call to complain. The number on the Caller ID doesn't identify the caller, and the caller won't identify themselves. If you can't identify the caller, you can't complain. If you can't complain, the callers can't be held accountable. The system is broken, and therefore so are all the laws that assume the system is working. Fix the system first, then write new laws if they're needed.
That's not always possible. I work at a phone survey center (terrible student job ;_;) and we're probably behind a PBX of some sort - we can't TAKE incoming calls on those numbers, so even having it wouldn't do you any good.
Perhaps we could start testing our new "non-hostile" UAVs on them...
Use your call forwarding to handle this...simply forward all calls to the head of the FCC @ 202-418-1000...set your call forward to 3 rings and monitor the phone for calls that you want and let the rest go to the FCC. Maybe if they get enough of these calls...they might start to care.