COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE WELCOMES TIO RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROTECT CONSUMERS AGAINST FRAUD

Sydney, 24 November 2021 – Communications Alliance welcomes the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s (TIO) recent report highlighting measures to help further protect phone and internet consumers and accounts from fraudsters.

The report also notes the suite of measures put into place by the telecommunications industry in recent  years to combat fraud and scams, including:

• the registered and enforceable Reducing Scam Calls industry Code;
• ongoing work by Communications Alliance members to combat SMS-based scams;
• the Existing Customer Authentication Industry Code, (recently submitted to the ACMA for consideration for registration); and
• the industry’s Mobile Number Pre-Porting Verification guideline, which was converted into a Standard in 2020.
  

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton said, “We welcome the TIO engaging with this topic. Combating the rising scourge of scams and fraud is a challenge that requires all parties to be vigilant and to assist consumers where possible.

“Telcos are continually improving their practices to keep up with the ever-changing tactics of fraudsters. It is important that we do not become complacent and remind our customers to protect their personal information, offline as much as online.”