The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) warned Telstra, Optus and Medion Mobile over failures to adhere to subscriber verification rules, breaches which could cost the operators AUD250,000 ($193,599) apiece.
ACMA stated Optus failed to follow the regulations at all, with 53 breaches by Medion Mobile and 52 Telstra during checks in mid-2020. The operators failed to verify customer’s identities before transferring their phone number from other service providers.
The regulator introduced a new standard [1] requiring operators to implement multifactor authentication before transferring a phone number to help curb phone scams.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin explained the rules “help prevent scammers from taking control of people’s identities to commit serious financial crimes”.
“Historically it has been too easy to transfer phone numbers from one telco to another. All a scammer needed to hijack a mobile number and access personal information like bank details was a name, address and date of birth.”
ACMA added reports of fraud have fallen since the rules were implemented.
[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/australia-mandates-tougher-operator-id-checks
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