The Florida attorney general announced new legislation on Thursday with the goal of ending scam calls and texts.
Attorney General James Uthmeier introduced the Florida Anti-Spam Communications Act at a news conference at the Southwest Focal Point Community Center in Pembroke Pines.
“Spam floods Florida phones. Scammers spoof government agencies, banks, and utilities. They send fake warrants and official-looking papers by text. Artificial voices make the fraud sound real,” a news release reads. “Under current law, some of these crimes don’t carry tough penalties, and Florida law does not provide consequences for the phone farms and SIM farms that blast thousands of numbers from one room.”
But that would change with the proposed legislation.
The Florida Anti-Spam Communications Act would:
- Crack down on phone and text fraud, including the use of AI-generated voices and fake warrants, by increasing penalties for high-volume or high-loss cases (including treating the offense as an elevated felony with mandatory prison time). Also, designating possession or importation of a phone farm or SIM farm as a felony, and designating the equipment contraband.
- Require communications providers to authenticate caller ID and cut off a named unlawful campaign after a written notice.
- Tighten Florida’s telemarketing consent law and making it so that STOP requests must be honored within days instead of weeks.
- Allow the attorney general independent authority to investigate spam calls and texts.
- Educate the elderly via a statewide campaign.
If you need to report a fraudulent text message or phone call, you can do so by calling 1-866-9NO-SCAM or at MyFloridaLegal.com.
