Proposed SMS registry could block scams that cost Australians over $1m a day

Australians could receive fewer text messages from scammers posing as legitimate organisations under a proposed registry that has reduced SMS phishing and spoofing in the UK, Spain, Ireland and Singapore.

Under directions from Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, the media and communications regulator ACMA will explore the implementation of an SMS sender ID register that would block cyber criminals from sending texts appearing to be from agencies such as the Australian Tax Office (ATO), myGov and Australia Post.

Australians self-reported losses of over half a billion dollars in 2022, with a third of all scams reported to Scamwatch coming in the form of a text message.

“One more scam is one too many,” said Rowland.

“Fraudsters cause financial and immeasurable emotional and mental stress by impersonating legitimate organisations every day, and we thank the ACMA for its important work to help protect Australians.”

Phishing texts are one of the most commonly encountered forms of scams in which the cyber criminal manipulates the ‘sender’ name to appear as a well-trusted origin such as a bank, telco, parcel delivery service, or Australian federal agency.

Texts that appear to be from your bank are actually malicious exercises to steal a customer’s personal information or gain unauthorised access to their accounts – but appear indistinguishable from the real thing.

In 2018, the UK trialled and developed an SMS sender ID protection registry that now protects the brands of over 130 government brands and banks and has over 520 trusted and registered SenderIDs. Ireland followed with its own protection registry in July 2021 and Spain launched theirs in December that year. Singapore made it mandatory for organisations that use sender ID to register by January this year.