Australians will notice some text messages look different from 1 July, when new rules take effect aimed at reducing SMS impersonation scams, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
Under the SMS Sender ID Register rules, messages sent using unregistered branded sender IDs — such as a business or organisation name — will appear on mobile phones labelled as ‘Unverified’.
ACMA said these unverified messages will be grouped in a single message thread alongside other unverified texts, including possible scam messages.
Messages sent using registered sender IDs such as ‘AusPost’, ‘Linkt’ or ‘myGov’ will continue to appear individually with their registered name.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said the change is intended to help people distinguish between registered and unregistered branded senders.
“These changes will give Australians an extra layer of protection to help prevent impersonation scams,” Ms Yorke said.
“From 1 July people will start seeing a clear difference between text messages sent from registered sender IDs and those that have not been registered.
“If a message is marked as ‘Unverified’, people should treat it with extra caution and not click on any links or provide personal information,” Ms Yorke said.
Ms Yorke said people who are unsure about a message should check verified contact details online or via bills and contact the organisation using those channels.
“Telcos are required to let their customers know about the imminent changes, so expect your provider to be in touch,” she said.
ACMA said more than 17,000 sender IDs have already been registered, with registrations continuing to increase.
The regulator said businesses and organisations that have not registered their sender IDs should contact their SMS provider if they want their messages to continue appearing with their branded sender ID after 1 July.
“Any business that does not register its current sender IDs by 1 July risks having its messages labelled ‘Unverified’ and ignored, or treated as a scam by the recipient,” Ms Yorke said.
ACMA said Australians lost nearly $18 million to SMS scams last year, with many messages impersonating major brands.
