The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) reports that the country’s telcos have blocked over 336 million scam texts since new rules were introduced in July 2022. Their figures equate to 5.3 million SMS messages during an average week, or one message for each Australian adult every month. These figures help to explain why complaints about scam SMS messages have fallen by 86 percent in just one year.
Australia is doing a tremendous job of curbing scam calls and texts but the national comms regulator is not satisfied yet. The ACMA used the news blitz surrounding the country’s Scam Awareness Week to highlight another major development on the horizon: they will trial the use of a SenderID registry for SMS messages. ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said:
The ACMA is currently developing the pilot of a Sender ID Registry, which will help protect the message headers… of brands and government agencies from impersonation by scammers. It will not eliminate impersonation scams but will increase trust in SMS by preventing scam messages entering legitimate pre-existing text message threads on smart phones. Close engagement with overseas registry providers has shown such registries are a valuable tool to protect consumers and brands.
There is huge international momentum behind the adoption of national registries to inhibit the sending of SMS messages that impersonate government functions and reputable organizations. That is obvious both from the string of announcements being made by different national regulators and the influx of traffic to Commsrisk whenever I report news of another country adopting the same approach.
Registries are not a panacea but they do not cost much either; there is no good reason not to adopt them in practice. Even if fraudsters change their tactics, at least they are being forced to work harder. If Australia intends to create an SMS registry after already enjoying massive reductions in scam SMS messages then it begs the question of why some countries have been so slow, so reluctant, and so ineffective when it comes to implementing similar consumer protection controls.
