H1776 • 2025

An Act to ban phishing

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
Last action: 2026-03-26
Official status: Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to ban phishing

An Act to ban phishing By Representative Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

An Act to ban phishing By Representative Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
1776) of Bradley H.
Jones, Jr., and others relative to the penalty for electronic mail message, web page, or other online service phishing.
The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-26 House
Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
2025-10-20 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 07/15/2025 from 01:00 PM-08:00 PM in A-2
2025-07-15 Joint
Hearing rescheduled to 07/15/2025 from 01:00 PM-06:00 PM in A-2 and Virtual Hearing updated to New End Time
2025-07-15 Joint
Hearing rescheduled to 07/15/2025 from 01:00 PM-08:00 PM in A-2 and Virtual Hearing updated to New End Time
2025-07-07 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 07/15/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on The Judiciary
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred
House
Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act to ban phishing
By Representative Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1776) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., and others relative to the penalty for electronic mail message, web page, or other online service phishing. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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Bill H.1776

Chapter 266 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding after Section 37E the following section:

SECTION 37F.

(a)For the purposes of this section, the following word shall have the following meaning:-

“Electronic mail message,” an electronic message or an executable program or computer file that contains an image of a message transmitted between 2 or more computers or electronic terminals and includes electronic messages that are transmitted within or between computer networks from which an electronic delivery receipt is obtained.

(b)Whoever, with intent to defraud, poses as a legitimate business using an electronic mail message, web page, or other online service, without the authorization or approval of said business, in an attempt to procure payment or personal identifying information, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

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