For years now we have put up with phone calls from spammers and scammers. The calls come in from a phone number we don't recognise that looks, from the receiver, to be a legitimate Australian landline or mobile. But immediately after we answer the call or open the text it proves to be spam, a scam, tele-marketing or another market survey.
Unfortunately for Australians, and mostly for our less technically proficient elderly, there are scammers afoot. And the community have wondered "Why can't these numbers be blocked?"
VIDEO: Under Scott Morrison Australia shot to the top 5 most scammed country in the world. Stephen Jones MP Nov 2021
Finally the new Minister for Communications and the new Assistant Treasurer have stepped in to do something, requesting 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. If you think you’ve been scammed, contact your bank and phone company immediately and report it to Scamwatch. Contact IDCARE if you’ve had personal details stolen. For information on how to spot – and stop – phone scams, visit acma.gov.au/scams. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones MP said: “Protecting consumers from scams is a top priority. “That’s why we took a comprehensive policy to the election, including a new National Anti-Scams Centre, tougher codes and a dedicated minister to deal with these issues. “Australians are losing around $4bn a year to online fraudsters, enough is enough. “Everyone needs to take this seriously, from banks to telcos to social media platforms. “When they don’t, they can expect to be asked why.”
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