HB 520 — Abuse and Deception by Telemarketers.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2025 H 21 HOUSE BILL 520 Committee Substitute Favorable 5/6/25 Short Title:

Representatives Brody, Bell, Dahle, and Gable (Primary Sponsors).

For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.

Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House March 27, 2025 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO ADDRESS ABUSE OF PRIVACY AND ACTS OF DECEPTION FROM TELEMARKETERS BY DISPLAYING PHONE NUMBERS THAT ARE FRAUDULENT AND MISREPRESENTATIVE OF THE ACTUAL CALLER.

and Whereas, the citizens and businesses of North Carolina claim a right of privacy and enjoyment ofthat privacyfrom telemarketers who spoof,orotherwise disguisetheir actual phone numbers, preventing the receiving phone from identifying who is calling;calling, and Whereas, the citizens and businesses of North Carolina claim some telemarketers are violating these rights and fraudulently displaying numbers which are assigned to other people, assigned to various businesses, using numbers that are not assigned to anyone (including the caller), or made up combinations of numbers and letters to disguise the real identification of the caller;

and Whereas, the citizens and businesses of North Carolina claim some telemarketers are violating these rights and fraudulently displaying numbers which are assigned to other people, assigned to various businesses, using numbers that are not assigned to anyone (including the caller), or made up combinations of numbers and letters to disguise the real identification of the caller;

75-101(10)75-102(i) reads as rewritten:

"(10)"(i) TelephoneNo solicitor.telephone solicitor or its agent shall cause misleading information to be transmitted to users of caller identification technologies or otherwise block or misrepresent the origin of the telephone solicitation.

– Any individual, business establishment, business, or other legal entity doing business in this State that, directly or through salespersons or agents, makes or attempts to make telephone solicitations or causes telephone solicitations to be made.

made, and any agent of that individual, business establishment, business, or legal entity.

"Telephone solicitor" also includes any party defined as a "telemarketer" under the Telemarketing Sales Rule." SECTION 3.

G.S.

75-102 reads as rewritten:

"§ 75-102.

Restrictions on telephone solicitations.

… (i) No telephone solicitor shall cause misleading information to be transmitted to users ofcalleridentificationtechnologiesorotherwiseblockormisrepresenttheoriginofthetelephone solicitation.

solicitation or use any other alteration to the origin of the telephone solicitation that displays in a way to give the perception that the call originated from any other origin except the actual origin of the telephone solicitation.

It is not a violation of this subsection for a telephone solicitor to utilize the name and number of *H520-v-2* General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 the entity the solicitation is being made on behalf of rather than the name and number of the telephone solicitor.solicitor." SECTION 3.

(j) A telephone solicitor or its agent that makes telephone solicitations on its behalf, provided that the telephone solicitor ensures compliance by its agent, shall keep a record for a periodof24monthsfromthedateatelephonesolicitationismadeofthelegalname,anyfictitious name used, the resident address, the telephone number, and the job title of each individual who makes a telephone solicitation for that telephone solicitor.

If an individual who makes telephone solicitations for a telephone solicitor uses a fictitious name, the fictitious name shall be traceable only to the specific individual.

…." SECTION 4.

(a) A telephone carrier shall not knowingly and intentionally transmit, sell, or otherwise provide the numbers of telephone subscribers to any entity the telephone carrier knows (i) will use the number to violate provisions of this Article,Act. (ii) has previously used telephone subscriber information to violate provisions of this Article, or (iii) has previously provided the information to another entity that has violated provisions of this Article.

75-102(i)." SECTION 5.4.

*H520-v-1* General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 "§ 75-105.

(3)(b1) AnA actiontelephone tosubscriber recoverwho tenhas thousandreceived dollarsa ($10,000)telephone forsolicitation each call placed in knowing violation of G.S.

75-102(i), or a telephone subscriber whose phone number or name was displayed in a way to give the perception that a call originated from that subscriber or number when the call was actually placed from a different origin and in violation of G.S.

75-102(i), may bring any action authorizedpursuantthissectionorChapteragainst thetelemarketerinitiatingthecall.

Inanaction brought under this subsection, the court shall impose an additional civil fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each call placed in knowing violation of G.S.

…."Any SECTIONperson 6.who knowingly violates G.S.

75-105(i) shall be guilty of a Class H felony.

…." SECTION 5.

Page 2 House Bill 520-Second520-First Edition