SMS scams: mobile companies could face fines of up to $250,000 under new Australian code

Mobile phone companies could face up to $250,000 in fines for failing to comply with a new code to block SMS scam messages.

The code, registered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) on Tuesday, will require the companies to trace, identify and block SMS scam messages, and publish information for customers on how to identify and report scams.

The companies will also be required to share information about scams between each other and authorities.

According to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) data, SMS scams accounted for 32% of all reported scams this year to date, accounting for $6.5m in losses compared to $2.3m in the same period last year.

Acma is hopeful the new code on SMS scams will be as effective as a similar code for scam phone calls. In the 16 months since the code on scam calls was brought in, phone companies blocked more than 549m scam calls to Australian numbers, and the number of complaints about scam calls dropped significantly.

The Flubot scam was disrupted last month by a global policing operating involving 11 agencies, including the Australian federal police. Investigations are still under way to identify who was behind the scam.

Scams where people impersonate a government agency or send a person a link designed to take over their device were still mostly conducted via scam calls, but the report found these scams were increasingly migrating to text message as the first point of contact.

One man reported to the consumer watchdog he had lost $4,500 after receiving a text message purporting to be from Amazon saying he had bought an expensive camera.

After calling the number in the message, the man was instructed to provide his two-factor authentication number over the phone. He then found his password had been changed on Amazon, and a laptop had been bought from his account.