WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Indiana lawmakers are expected to take up illegal and unwanted phone calls in January.
Telemarketers and fraudulent scammers are using advances in technology to skirt federal and state telemarketing laws in Indiana.
The Associated Press reports some telemarketers are now using “spoof” numbers to make it appear as if a call is coming from a local area code. Spoofing and fraudulent calls are on Democratic State Senators’ legislative agenda, for the upcoming ‘long’ legislative session. Democrat’s legislative agenda was announced earlier this month, after midterm elections.
Indiana already has a strict telemarketing law. That bill went into effect in 2002. Republicans and Democrats appear to support either revisiting that law, or drafting new legislation to crack down on new technological workarounds. House Republicans have stated they’d support revisiting the legislation.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has also signaled he’d support additional legislation to combat fraudulent and nuisance calls.
