The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has taken action against five telecommunications companies for failing to comply with anti-scam and public safety rules.

The companies in question are Message4U Pty Ltd (trading under the brand name Sinch MessageMedia), SMS Broadcast Pty Ltd, Direct SMS Pty Ltd, Esendex Australia Pty Ltd, and Message Bird Pty Ltd. These companies reportedly allowed millions of SMS to be sent using text-based sender IDs without sufficient checks to ensure they weren't scams.

Message4U allowed around 36.1 million SMS to be sent in breach of anti-scam rules, SMS Broadcast 4.5 million, Direct SMS 1.6 million, Esendex Australia 6.7 million, and Message Bird sent 1.1 million. The non-compliance allowed scam SMS to be sent impersonating well-known brands and government services. SMS Broadcast and Message4U's failures each allowed over 1.2 million impersonation scam text messages to be sent, while Esendex allowed the sending of at least 99,000 scam texts.

"Australians reported losing over $25 million to SMS scammers last year, and the impact on individuals and families can be truly devastating. Scammers will always look for cracks in systems and if even one telco fails to have its compliance in order, it can open the door for scammers to target Australians. Telcos must have processes in place to ensure that customers sending bulk messages are verified," said Samantha Yorke, ACMA member.

The same telcos were also found to have failed to provide customer data to the Integrated Public Number Database, which is used by Triple Zero to help locate people in an emergency, emergency alerts to warn Australians of dangers like flood or bushfire, and to assist law enforcement activities.

"While we are not aware anyone was harmed due to the breaches, it is deeply concerning so many telcos failed to comply with these critical obligations," Yorke added.

As a result of the breaches, each of the telcos have been formally directed by the ACMA to comply with the Integrated Public Number Database and the Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMS industry codes. Combating SMS scams is an ACMA compliance priority and telcos may face penalties of up to $250,000 for breaching ACMA directions to comply with industry codes.

"We will be closely monitoring for any scam activity coming via these telcos and will not hesitate to take action if we find evidence Australians are being placed in harm's way again," Yorke warned.