Ohio Senate bill cracks down on robocalls, spoofing

Oct. 26—COLUMBUS — A bill making it a state crime to use robocalls or fake phone numbers to defraud someone into picking up a call is headed for a full House vote.

The Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 54, sponsored by Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R., Bowling Green). It has already cleared the Senate.

The bill would add individuals, entities, and merchants to those already covered under consumer protection and telecommunications fraud law. It would also prohibit third parties, such as internet voice services, from knowingly or blindly allowing their services to be used in this way to commit fraud.

It targets attempts by telemarketers to get around caller screening by "spoofing" the true source of a call with a local area code, familiar phone number, or other means to make it more likely the call's recipient will pick up and trust whatever fraudulent pitch is about to follow.

Such fraud is a fifth-degree felony. The penalty climbs to a fourth-degree felony if the resulting fraud victim is an elderly or disabled person, an active military member, or a military spouse. A fourth-degree felony carries up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

"Older Ohioans are often the target of these illegal schemes, cheating them out of their hard-earned money," Jason Smith, associate state director of AARP Ohio, wrote in written testimony submitted to the committee. "Unfortunately, criminals never let a good crisis go to waste. We have heard about our members being targeted for fraud by promising access to COVID-19 vaccine wait lists and utilizing the confusion about scheduling appointments across Ohio to obtain personal and banking information."

Robocallindex.com, which tracks such calls, reported that in September alone there were just under 4 billion robocalls nationally, 139.5 million of them in Ohio. That broke down to about 11 calls per Ohioan.

It estimates that 33 percent of robocalls are scams.

Senate Bill 54 is supported by Attorney General Dave Yost, who has said it would give Ohio the toughest anti-spoofing law in the nation. No one has testified in opposition to the bill.

It would allow a court to impose a civil penalty of $500 for each violation at the attorney general's request. If a court finds the violation was knowingly committed the penalty could climb to $1,500 a violation. The monies would be used to fund the attorney general's investigative and enforcement efforts.

Mr. Yost noted that his office collaborated with federal authorities in 2019 to sue a Texas company that used robocalls to pitch a fraudulent interest rate reduction scheme that cost consumers $10 million nationally.

It also sued the internet voice provider that allowed it. The third-party payment processor was also held liable under federal law.

The attorney general has created a Robocall Enforcement Unit to investigate tips and collaborate at the national level.

The bill exempts those telecommunications companies that have not been labeled as noncooperative by the industry are not the originating carrier of the calls, or are not the first domestic provider for calls that originate from outside the country.

The bill passed the Senate in May by a vote of 31-1.