Number of scam calls to Australian phones cut by half while text message crypto scams soar

theguardian.com:

Phone scam calls have halved since this time last year, data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch shows, but other investment frauds – including on social media and via text messages – have soared over the same time period.

The Reducing Scam Calls code was introduced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) in December 2020. It has seen telcos block over 549m scam calls since its inception.

The code was developed by the Communications Alliance, the communications industry’s peak body, in conjunction with major providers and had been in the works for several years.

The chief executive of the Communications Alliance, James Stanton, said: “The code has greatly improved the communication and the coordination of action between carriers to identify, trace and block scam calls.”

“The difficulty is that the scammers are incredibly agile. As soon as they see one avenue being blocked they’re very good at finding a new one to exploit. So it’s a constant car chase to try to prevent that activity.”

The code’s introduction coincided with a major spike in phone scams during the pandemic, which emphasised the need for an industry-wide approach.

Stanton said most providers had provisions in place to curb scammers but consolidating the processes and creating legally binding accountability allowed for more effective deterrence.

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The code requires telecommunication providers to monitor their networks and identify the characteristics of scam calls – and then block them.

Significantly, it also requires participants to communicate to other telecommunication companies and the regulator about the identified scam, so the