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This week
IN THE NEWS: ACCAN 2023 Grants Round closes Friday week, New SMS register to target scam messages and more
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ACCAN’s Grant Round for 2023 is now open, and will close 24 February, 5pm AEDT, with funded projects to begin from July. ACCAN encourages anyone interested in applying to discuss their project ideas with the Grants Team by getting in touch on grants@accan.org.au. For more information visit our website at accan.org.au/grants [ACCAN]
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We've all received those official looking text messages attempting to lure us into clicking on dodgy links or handing over sensitive personal information. For many, spelling errors and poor grammar can be the giveaway that it’s not really from your bank, the government or your service provider. But the fakes are getting harder and harder to tell from the real thing with a new ID register to be set up in a bid to stop the fraudsters. [ABC radio]
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Australians are being urged to have a heart-to-heart with their friends and family members this Valentine’s Day, as they can play a vital role in protecting their loved ones from the heartache caused by scams. New Scamwatch data reveals more than $40 million was lost to romance scams in 2022. There were 3,698 reports of romance scams made to the ACCC’s Scamwatch in 2022, up eight per cent compared to the previous year. Close to half of these reports involved scammers with fake profiles contacting their victims via mobile apps and social networking platforms. [ACCC media release]
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If you feel like your phone is being bombarded by scam texts, you are not alone. And now the pressure is on telcos to do more to stop it. Dodgy texts have fast become the spam of choice, prompting a super-spam crackdown forcing providers to identify, trace and block SMS scams and since July last year, more than 90 million scam text messages been picked up. [The Project]
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Telco provider amaysim is offering free standard international calls and text messages to Turkey and Syria from Australia in response to the devastating earthquakes in the regions over the past week. Until 31 March 2023, customers in Australia who have friends and family in Turkey and Syria can take advantage of free standard international calls and text messages to both countries. [iTWire]
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The federal government should take action to force banks to reimburse scam victims and check the account details match up on transactions to stop scams before the money is lost, consumer rights advocates say. The call comes as Australia’s big four banks pushed back on mandatory reimbursements, arguing they could “inadvertently lead to increases in scam activity” and that customers should keep themselves safe. [The Guardian]
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The Minister for Communications and Assistant Treasurer have requested the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigate the implementation of a SMS sender ID register, which has been successful in deterring scammers in other countries. Sender ID scams trick people into thinking they are receiving legitimate texts from businesses or Government agencies such as ‘AusPost’ or ‘MyGov’. [Minister Rowland media release]
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Australia’s telcos have maintained record-low complaint rates according to the latest Complaints-in-Context Report, released by Communications Alliance. The report by Communications Alliance - the primary telecommunications industry body in Australia - reveals that, for the third consecutive quarter, there were fewer than 4 complaints per 10,000 services in operation (SIO), with the October to December 2022 quarter average sitting at just 3.8 – or one complaint for every 2,632 SIO. [iTWire]
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A million more homes and businesses will be able to upgrade to a world-class, full-fibre broadband connection as part of the Australian Government’s plan for a better National Broadband Network (NBN). The list of eligible suburbs announced today contains premises that are still currently served by the outdated and unreliable copper network – a legacy of the former Coalition Government. [Minister Rowland media release]
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Australian telco providers are failing to meet the expectations of Australian customers, according to new research from low-code platform provider Pegasystems. The study, conducted in collaboration with Omnipoll, surveyed 1,228 consumers on the state of customer service in today’s telecommunications industry - and found that customer expectations are not being met by Australian telecommunication providers, with nine in 10 Australians wanting their telco provider to offer the best deals to ensure their long-term loyalty. [iTWire]
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Although we take care to direct subscribers to sites with accurate and reliable content, we advise that ACCAN is not responsible for the content within external sites and has no control over the views, services or information contained therein. Information contained on external sites may not necessarily reflect ACCAN's policy, standards or beliefs.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network's representation of residential and other consumers' interests in relation to telecommunications issues is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
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