Vows to Continue to Work in Congress and With FCC to Stop Those Perpetuating Telephone Scams
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, issued the following statement today after learning that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a $120 million fine for malicious spoofing:
“I’m pleased to see strong enforcement action by the FCC today, issuing the largest fine in the Commission’s history for malicious spoofing against an abusive robocaller. In the Senate, I have sought to combat spoofing attacks by introducing, and passing into law, measures that will protect the most vulnerable in our society from these fraudulent scams. I look forward to working with the FCC to increase enforcement, close legal loopholes, and support consumer education in order to end this predatory practice,” said Fischer.
Adrian Abramovich is responsible for an illegal robocalling operation that made 96 million robocalls to defraud unsuspecting consumers during just a three-month period. The calls were spoofed, using false caller IDs to make them appear as local phone calls.
Major targets of spoofing scams often include seniors and veterans. False caller IDs also appear to be from legitimate organizations. In fact, many Nebraskans have received fraudulent calls that look like they’re coming from the FBI’s Omaha field office. Senator Fischer has led bipartisan legislation to crack down on the use of deceptive spoofing technology. The bill, known as the Spoofing Prevention Act of 2017, passed Congress and was signed into law in March 2018.
The Spoofing Prevention Act:
- Closes legal loopholes to address the practice of “spoofing”: deliberate falsification of telephone numbers and/or names through Caller-ID.
- Prohibits caller ID spoofing on voice calls, including calls made by persons outside of the United States to callers located inside the United States, and all calls made using IP-enabled voice services.
- Prohibits caller ID spoofing on text messages.
