The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has warned Symbio for underinvestigating possible phone frauds.
The warning is the most recent in a string of actions taken by ACMA to pressure Australian carriers to do more to safeguard their consumers from the sharp increase in frauds and scams.
It comes after the regulator declared that new customer authentication regulations would go into effect on June 30 to crack down on SIM jacking.
According to ACMA, Symbio only looked into nine of the 777,268 calling line identifications suspected of being connected to fraudulent calls alerted by another telecom in November 2021.
Symbio was the first one to be found in violation of the Reducing Scam Calls Industry Code, according to ACMA.
The code, which went into effect in December 2020, requires telcos to look into scam evidence provided by other providers as quickly as possible.
Read also: Australia-US to collaborate in fight against phone scams – CommsRoom
It also mandates telcos to take reasonable measures to use all available information, including exchanging data with other providers, to help track and block scam calls.
Providers also reported another set of alleged scam calls to Symbio in October 2021, but the company did not start investigating until four months later.
In a different statement, a spokesperson for Symbio claimed that the company took its compliance responsibilities seriously and that it has examined and improved its operational procedures, systems, and automated solutions to look into and track bulk scam calls.
The spokesperson said, “Symbio acknowledges receipt of the ACMA’s recent formal warning regarding the Reducing Scam Calls Industry Code. We appreciate the opportunity to engage with the ACMA and have cooperated with its recent investigation.”
Since the rules came into force, telcos have blocked over half a billion scam calls.
ACMA said it anticipates telcos to act when informed of scam calls by other telcos, including asking for more information if necessary.
“Effective scam reduction activity can only occur when there is collaboration and information sharing between telcos in a timely manner,” said ACMA.
At least 510 documented scams by scammers targeting client authorisation processes were committed between 1 January and 30 September of last year, resulting in 163 instances of cash loss totaling $4.68 million.
The ACMA censured several carriers in May of last year for failing to uphold proper authorization standards and failing to protect customers from identity theft.
According to an agency probe, Telstra broke identity verification regulations at least 52 times last year, while Aldi Mobile broke them 53 times.
The investigation also found that Optus violated the guidelines in one incident.
Additional read: Australia, New Zealand unite to combat phone scams (commsroom.co)
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
