Caller ID Anti-Spoofing Act

The Caller ID Anti-spoofing Act is a law in Florida against the dishonest use of a telephone caller identification (ID) system with the intent to deceive, defraud or mislead. For example, it would be illegal for a person to use a bank's phone number in the caller ID system and then call someone and pretend to be a bank in order to find out personal information, such a social security number and birth date. The fraudulent use of caller ID can be practiced without any technical expertise through a telephone service called spoofing card.

The Act provides that a violation is an unlawful trade practice under specified provisions. It allows penalties to be enhanced when a violation is committed at the same time as a criminal offense or when a violation facilitates a criminal offense. This act was effective Oct 01, 2008, and it is an amendment to the communications Act of 1934.

A similar bill was written in 2007, but it never became an act. The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007 would have amended the Communications Act of 1934 to make it unlawful for any person in the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or Internet protocol-enabled voice service, to cause any caller ID service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.