The Australian Government has confirmed it will formally introduce an SMS sender registry designed to help identify and block potential scam messages before they reach recipients.
The Government has confirmed it will direct communications regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to develop an enforceable industry standard requiring telecommunications providers to check whether messages being sent under a brand name correspond with the legitimate registered sender.
If the sender ID is identified as not being on its Register, ACMA will either block the SMS or include a warning for recipients.
The Register is intended to prevent scammers from using the names of trusted brands, including banking institutions, service providers or government entities – for example, the commonly used ‘ANZ’, ‘Linkt’ or ‘myGov’ IDs – that appear to be from reputable sources.
The formal rollout of the mandatory Register follows a voluntary pilot phase, commenced in December 2023, which tested the operation and effectiveness of such a register.
The Government expects the full-scale Register to be ready to register Sender IDs from late 2025.
During the first half of next year, the ACMA will consult on the industry standard and then establish the systems and processes required to operate the Register.
Whilst this work is underway, the existing pilot SMS Sender ID Register will continue to operate. The pilot Register involved a number of network operators and major brands (including NAB, CBA and the Australian Taxation Office) registering their Sender IDs.
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) backed the formal, full-scale rollout of the mandatory SMS Sender ID register, with chief executive Anna Bligh welcoming the register as a crucial tool for “stopping SMS impersonation scams in their tracks before they can cause harm to Australians”.
“By requiring telcos to block known scam SMS numbers, Australia will have a new weapon to disrupt a popular business model that scammers use.”
She added: “This register will be an important tool for telcos to help put scammers out of business and complements extra protections banks are putting in place through our industry’s Scam-Safe Accord.”
So far this year, Australians have lost more than $11.1 million to scammers using spoof SMS, figures from the ACCC’s ScamWatch reporting service show, with more than 68,000 separate SMS scams reported to the service over this time.
