New figures from the communications regulator show 214 million scam calls have been blocked since rules were introduced by the Morrison Government in December, 2020, requiring telcos to detect, trace and block scam calls.
The Reducing Scam Calls Code is a key measure under the Morrison Government's Combatting Scams Action Plan, announced in November 2019. The Code was developed by the telco industry and registered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and sets out the processes for telcos to identify, trace and block scam calls.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the 214 million blocked calls are evidence that the Reducing Scam Calls Code is working.
"Scam calls are a serious problem. At best, scam calls are annoying. At worst, scam calls can have damaging financial consequences for victims," Minister Fletcher said.
More than half of the scams reported to ScamWatch are phone scams. In 2021, so far, over 83,000 Australians have reported losing over $52 million to scam phone calls.
Three of the most common phone scams are:
- Australian Tax Office scam: In this scam, Australians were receiving calls that appeared to come from a legitimate phone number used by the ATO - this is calling "overstamping" or "spoofing". Telcos used software to identify calls using ATO numbers and block them.
- Wangiri scam calls: 'Wangiri' is Japanese for "one ring and drop'" Victims receive a missed call, often from an international number. When they call back, the call is charged at a premium rate. The Reducing Scam Calls Code requires the telco industry to monitor, trace and block Wangiri call scams.
- International scam calls: Evidence suggests that the majority of scam traffic originates from overseas. The Reducing Scam Calls Code requires the telco industry to monitor, trace and work with international carriers to block international call scams.
More than 159 million scam calls were stopped between March and June 2021. More than 75 million of these were 'spoofing' scam calls, and 23 million were Wangiri scam calls.
