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Three Australian telcos have fallen foul of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after being used by scammers to send out malicious SMS messages.
Sinch Australia, Infobip Information Technology, and Phone Card Selector were all found to have made insufficient checks on text-based sender IDs for their authenticity.
Infobip allowed 103,146 such SMSes to be sent, with some impersonating Australian road toll companies. Meanwhile, 14,291 non-compliant SMSes were sent by Sinch, with scammers in this instance pretending to be Australia Post and Medicare, among others.
And while Phone Card was found to be lax in its checking of sender IDs, the ACMA could find no evidence the company had been taken advantage of.
Phone Card has only incurred a warning for now, while Infobip and Sinch were each given formal compliance directions. Failure to comply could lead to the companies facing up to a $250,000 penalty.
“While there is no suggestion the telcos were involved in scam activity themselves, scammers have used their failures to prey on Australians,” said Nerida O’Loughlin, ACMA chair, in an announcement. “This wouldn’t have happened if the companies had adequate processes in place and complied with the rules.”
“Scams that impersonate reputable organisations can be particularly hard for consumers to recognise, and there’s no telling how much damage could have been done as a result of these scam texts.”
At the same time, O’Loughlin praised the new SMS sender ID that the ACMA will be setting up at the federal government’s direction.
“This initiative will help close a key vulnerability used by scammers. The ACMA looks forward to working with industry and trusted brands as we implement this new protection,” O’Loughlin said.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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