Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, has signed off on the action plan by telecommunications regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), working with the telecommunications industry to crack down on scams perpetrated over phone networks. The Combatting Scams: Action plan was released by the ACMA today.
Minister Fletcher has announced there will be three trials conducted across the telecommunications industry to combat common phone scams and techniques. The first trial has already started and involves telcos identifying and blocking calls which appear to come from a well-known Australian organisation but are actually made by scammers. In recent months there have been numerous reports of scammers using phone numbers of organisations such as the Australian Taxation Office and NBN Co.
The second and third trials will start in the first quarter of 2020, and will target scam calls that try to entice Australians to call expensive premium numbers (by leaving a missed call on their mobile phone) and will also crack down on networks that carry a high volume of scam traffic.
"I want to thank the ACMA for this report and I look forward to working in partnership with industry to run these pilot trials as soon as possible," Minister Fletcher said.
"For too long, scammers have been targeting Australians. At the very least, they have been creating a major inconvenience, by harassing us over the phone, email and internet. At worst, they have caused victims significant emotional and financial hardship."
"This is why the Morrison Government is committed to taking action. If criminals are using technology to scam Australians, we will use technology to fight back," Minister Fletcher said.
A summary of the report is available on the ACMA website.
