Under the Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMs Industry Code, telcos are required to monitor and disrupt scams, share information about scam traffic with other telcos and government agencies, and report blocked scams to the ACMA.

The ACMA reports that it found NetSIP failed to share information about nearly 47,000 scam calls with other telcos and approximately 500,000 scam calls with the ACMA, and warns that the information sharing rules are critical to enabling early identification and disruption of scams across Australian telco networks.

“A failure to notify other telcos about scam calls compromises their ability to take rapid action to protect their customers. A failure to notify the ACMA impacts the ability to identify scam trends and monitor that telcos are meeting their obligations,” the ACMA warns, adding that telcos may face penalties of up to $250,000 for breaching a direction to comply with an industry code.

Reports ACMA:

Scammers are criminals and they target everyone

Help other Australians by reporting scams to Scamwatch. Scammers want you to hide or deny your experiences, or accept the blame. Reporting scams and talking about your experience helps you and others, and also informs authorities about scam activities so they can make it harder for scams to occur.

The more we talk, the less power scammers have.

Get informed

The ACMA has released a range of updated consumer awareness material in conjunction with the National Anti-Scam Centre to help Australians spot – and stop – phone scams.

This material is available in several languages including Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Punjabi. Visit the ACMA’s website for more information: Phone and SMS scams | ACMA