Pending in the Legislature is a bill that would prevent people from pretending they’re somebody else in order to con private information from unsuspecting individuals and businesses.

The practice is called “pretexting,” and it’s used by some companies and private investigators to find the wheareabouts of individuals by gathering information such as phone numbers, driver’s or motor vehicle license numbers, date of birth, Social Security numbers and various account numbers. Criminals and scam artists also use the same technique to defraud people.

Federal law prohibits pretexting to get information from banks and financial institutions. It doesn’t extend to individuals and other businesses, however.

In New Hampshire, the state’s consumer protection laws indirectly include pretexting by prohibiting the use of “deception and trickery” in transactions. However, the bill would expand the state’s criminal code to specifically classify pretexting as a form of fraud, punishable with a fine up to $10,000. Individuals subject to state licensing and found guilty of pretexting would have their licenses revoked.

It’s high time that people get protection against pretexting, though the fine may be too lenient for professional scammers and companies that sell fraudulently obtained information.

No doubt some investigators will take exception to the bill because it could prevent them from hunting down deadbeats and others on the lam. With identity theft so easily done by phone, through the Internet and other means, prohibiting pretexting, except for law enforcement, would be another privacy protection.

Pretexting was involved in getting the information. An individual hired by the company, Docusearch Inc. of Boca Raton, phoned Boyer pretending to be calling from an insurance company and obtained the young woman’s workplace address.

Using the information, Youens then ambushed the 20-year-old woman as she left work at a downtown dental office, before turning the gun on himself.

The two had been only passing acquaintances at Nashua High, but Youens, unbeknownst to Boyer, had developed a fixation about her that lingered way beyond graduation.

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