Is the ACMA Winning the Battle Against Scammers? Latest Update Reveals the Ongoing Fight
Is the ACMA winning the battle against scammers? The latest update reveals the ongoing fight to combat fraudulent activities. As an investigative journalist specializing in exposing scams, I delve into the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) efforts to tackle these criminals head-on.
With a focus on providing in-depth analysis and evidence-based reporting, my objective is to shed light on the progress made by the ACMA in protecting the public from scams. Through fact-based and compelling narratives, I aim to educate and inform the community about the challenges and victories in the ongoing battle against scammers.
Ongoing Anti-Scam Efforts by ACMA
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) recently published a comprehensive update covering its relentless fight against scammers during the first quarter of 2024. This report highlights various measures that the authority has taken to protect Australians from fraudulent activities. According to the latest data, ACMA has two active anti-scam investigations, three ongoing spam inquiries, and 20 enforceable undertakings in the court system.
Strategic Focus Areas
ACMA’s current compliance priorities are squarely aimed at combating SMS scams and ensuring adherence to e-marketing unsubscribe rules. “We continue to take the fight to scammers to disrupt their activities and protect Australians,” reads the update from ACMA. During this period, more than 6,200 complaints were lodged by consumers regarding alleged breaches of telemarketing and spam laws. The most common complaints, aside from scams, were related to the retail, building and maintenance, and solar sectors.
Key Outcomes This Quarter
ACMA’s efforts have yielded significant results in the last quarter, including:
- Securing an AUD302,000 penalty against Outdoor Supacentre (trading as 4WD Supacentre) for sending commercial messages without consent.
- Accumulating over AUD12.7 million in penalties over the last 18 months against businesses that distributed unlawful spam.
- Expanding the SMS Sender ID Registry pilot by adding new alpha tags to prevent scammers from impersonating business message headers in SMS.
- Issuing 1,173 compliance alerts to businesses to help them address potential spam and telemarketing compliance issues, bringing the total to 3,601 for the financial year to date.
- Sending out consumer alerts about the resurgence of the ‘Hi mum scam’, government ‘cost of living’ impersonation scams, and Do Not Call Register scams.
Addressing Complaints and Non-Compliance
ACMA has noted an uptick in businesses that do not comply with Australia’s spam laws, primarily because they lack adequate unsubscribe processes for automated SMS and email ‘welcome journeys.’ A welcome journey is a series of automated messages sent to new customers over a few days or weeks, often including advertising and discount offers.
Some customers attempt to unsubscribe after receiving the first few welcome journey messages but continue to receive the entire sequence. This failure indicates that the unsubscribe process is ineffective until the full journey is complete, putting these businesses at risk of breaching their unsubscribe obligations under the Spam Act 2003, as noted by ACMA.
