Florida Senate panel advances bill to combat scam callers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —

A Florida Senate panel advanced legislation Wednesday to make it more difficult for fraudulent telemarketers to conceal their identities, aiming to reduce scams targeting senior citizens.

Under the bill, telecommunications companies that provide fraudulent caller ID information for phone calls or text messages could face civil penalties of up to $250,000.

Bill sponsor State Sen. Ileana Garcia highlighted the issue, stating that spoofed numbers and deceptive caller ID practices have contributed to an increase in fraudulent calls targeting individuals over 60.

She emphasized the need to address the problem as technology advances, warning that previous state efforts to curb telemarketer fraud are not keeping pace. "We want to get ahead of this very, very advanced AI digital age where basically they are circumventing everything we currently have in place," said State Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami.

A similar bill has been filed in the House, although it has not yet received a hearing.

This initiative is part of ongoing efforts by officials at both the state and federal levels to combat the proliferation of unwanted calls and text messages from scammers and telemarketers.

The problem has 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.

Downloading the ActiveArmor app can help significantly reduce unwanted calls in the meantime.

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