The Minister for Communications and Assistant Treasurer have requested the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigate the implementation of a SMS sender ID register, which has been successful in deterring scammers in other countries.
Sender ID scams trick people into thinking they are receiving legitimate texts from businesses or Government agencies such as ‘AusPost’ or ‘MyGov’.
These registries can effectively act as a blocking list to stop bad actors from impersonating trusted brands. The ACMA has been asked to investigate different register models and will provide advice to the government on the most appropriate model for the Australian market.
It comes after the ACMA last week took action over the first breach of new anti-SMS scam rules by a telecommunications company.
The rules, backed by the Albanese Government, require all telecommunications providers to identify, trace and block SMS scams. They also require providers to publish information to assist their customers to proactively manage and report SMS scams, to share information about scam messages with other mobile providers and report identified scams to authorities.
Ninety million SMS’ have been blocked by Australian telcos since the rules were introduced in July 2022.
An ACMA investigation has found telco Modica had allowed customers to send SMS’ using text-based sender IDs, or a name, without properly checking to ensure they weren’t being used to scam Australians.
Modica Group Limited has been ordered to comply with the new rules, and may face stronger action including Federal Court proceedings if future breaches occur.
Through its Fighting Online Scams measure in the October 2022-23 Budget, the Government committed $12.6 million over 4 years from 2022-23 to combat scams and online fraud to protect Australians from financial harm, including initial funding for the phased establishment of a National Anti-Scams Centre.
