The new SMS Sender ID Register has now commenced, providing an important new measure to help protect Australians from text message impersonation scams.
Sender IDs are the names that appear at the top of some SMS messages to identify the sender, such as a business, government agency or organisation name.
From today, SMS messages sent using registered Sender IDs will continue to appear with the business or organisation’s name.
SMS messages sent using unregistered Sender IDs must be labelled by the telco carrier as ‘Unverified’. These will be grouped in a single message thread, making it easier for consumers to identify potential scams.
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said having the register in place will give Australians an additional prompt to stop and check whether a message is legitimate.
“From today, Australians will start seeing a clear difference between SMS messages sent from registered sender IDs and those that have not been registered,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“If a message is marked as ‘Unverified’ it should be treated with extra caution. It may be from a legitimate business or organisation that has not yet registered its sender ID, or it may be a scam message impersonating a trusted brand.
“Either way, the message is simple – stop and think before you click a link or provide information to the sender.
“We know that SMS messages are used for many important services, including medical appointment reminders, parcel delivery updates, banking alerts and other essential communications,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“While the register grows, messages from unregistered sender IDs are being labelled rather than blocked. This gives businesses and organisations time to register their legitimate sender IDs, while giving consumers a clear signal to pause and verify messages marked ‘Unverified’.
“There is no cut-off date for registration and businesses and organisations that rely on branded SMS and have not registered their sender IDs should contact their messaging provider as soon as possible.
“Telcos have clear responsibilities under the register rules. We expect them to identify unregistered sender IDs, apply the ‘Unverified’ label where required, communicate with their customers about the changes and continue helping businesses and organisations register legitimate sender IDs.
“The ACMA will be actively monitoring industry compliance, with telcos facing court-ordered penalties of up to $250,000 for each contravention of the register rules,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
