Who's calling?

On April 14 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that ought to please anyone who’s ever been annoyed at telemarketers or scammers who shield their identity on the caller ID.

On April 14 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that ought to please anyone who’s ever been annoyed at telemarketers or scammers who shield their identity on the caller ID.

The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010 essentially means that it will become illegal for people or companies to deceive people they call by hiding their true phone number and identity on a phone’s caller ID. There are companies and individuals who call people and somehow get the phone number of a family member or friend to show up on the caller ID. Backers of the bill passed by the House say new technology has made this caller ID “spoofing” easy. Beyond just being annoying, it presents opportunities for scammers to get Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information from people.

Caller ID spoofing is a deceptive and unethical practice. It should be illegal. We’re glad Congress is taking action.

We urge the Senate to quickly pass this bill and the president to sign it into law.

— Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, N.J.