Ongoing Efforts by ACMA to Disrupt Fraudulent Schemes by Scammers Unveiled
ACMA Cracks Down on Unlawful Spam and Telemarketing in Q1 2024
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released its telemarketing and spam update for the January-March 2024 quarter, highlighting a continued focus on combatting SMS scams and enforcing e-marketing unsubscribe rules.
In a significant move, the ACMA secured a penalty of AUD302,000 against Outdoor Supacentre (trading as 4WD Supacentre) for sending commercial messages without consent. This penalty is part of over AUD12.7 million in penalties the ACMA has secured over the last 18 months for unlawful spam.
The ACMA's efforts are not limited to enforcing existing laws. It currently has three ongoing spam investigations and two ongoing anti-scam investigations. The authority is also addressing a growing concern about businesses that may not comply with Australia's spam laws due to inadequate 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 discounts. Customers who try to unsubscribe from a 'welcome journey' but continue to receive the complete series of messages may be in potential breach of their unsubscribe obligations under the Spam Act 2003.
The ACMA has issued 1,173 compliance alerts to businesses in the current financial year, bringing the total to 3,601. These alerts serve as a warning to businesses about potential non-compliance with telemarketing and spam laws.
The update also mentions the expansion of the SMS Sender ID Registry pilot, which aims to prevent business message headers in SMS from being impersonated by scammers. This is a crucial step in the fight against SMS scams.
In addition to these measures, the ACMA has issued consumer alerts about the re-emergence of 'Hi mum scam', government 'cost of living' impersonation scams, and Do Not Call Register scams.
The most common complaints (excluding scams) were about the retail, building and maintenance, and solar sectors. With over 6,200 complaints about telemarketing and spam laws breaches received by the ACMA in the last quarter, it is clear that there is still much work to be done in ensuring businesses comply with these important regulations.
