Australia
ACMA, Australian Communications and Media Authority, the telecommunications regulator body of Australia, has released an update on their SCAM code act, whereby additional obligations are requested of Carriers and Carriage Service Providers like MessageBird and businesses like yours to prevent SCAM Calls and SMS to Australia.
MessageBird is excited to inform you that there will be an upcoming enhancement in the processes to be able to send SMS to Australia.
To ensure ongoing compliance with the Australian SCAM Code, MessageBird is introducing an enhanced SenderID registration process to ensure that all our customers have the following:
Right of use of both the Numeric and Alphanumeric Sender IDs for SMS going to Australia
A valid use case for these Sender IDs
The Integrated Public Number Database (“IPND”) under the Telecommunications Act 1997 is another Australian industry code that MessageBird ensures compliance with. MessageBird is legally obligated to register Australian phone number user’s information on the IPND. The IPND is a centralized database that contains the record of each telephone number issued by a CSP to their customers in Australia, such as the following:
Name of the Service User
Number (whether a fixed number or a mobile number)
Current address (Service Address of the user)
For more information on this requirement, please refer to the official website of the IPND Manager, Telstra, and the official website of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (here).
What do I need to do?
From the 1st of May 2023 onwards, pre-approval for sending SMS to Australia is required.
To continue sending your legitimate traffic to Australia without any interruptions, please submit an approval request form for access to Australia as a Restricted Country through the MessageBird dashboard.
From June 1st onwards, registration of SID is required to send SMS to Australia.
Please register all Numeric and Alphanumeric sender IDs via our Dashboard page that you use before the 29th of May 2023 and provide the following:
SIGNED Letter of Authorisation (for 3rd party reps/companies) or Business Registration/License mentioning company name / brand or
Utility bill mentioning company name / brand
Australian Local Numeric SID ONLY are accepted as long as it is purchased from MessageBird and/or ported to MessageBird or if not with MessageBird then a proof of ownership should provided
What happens if I do not take action?
From May 1st 2023, all SMS going to Australia and originating by clients who have NOT obtained access to restricted countries will be BLOCKED.
On June 1, 2023, all unregistered SMS to Australia will be BLOCKED.
FAQs
Why do we need to request approval to send an SMS to Australia?
MessageBird wants to protect you, your business, and your subscribers from scammers by making sure that you are the owner of the Sender IDs that you are using.
What happens if I don’t submit an approval form for access to Australia by May 1st?
You will not be able to send SMS to Australia.
What Sender IDs do I need to register?
You need to register both Alphanumeric and Numeric-only sender IDs that you are currently using.
What if I am using a Virtual number that I did not purchase from MessageBird and have been using it for sending SMS to Australia, can I still use it after June 1, 2023?
You can still use it IF YOU PORT THAT NUMBER TO MESSAGEBIRD or If you provide proof of ownership like a phone/utility bill. Porting numbers can be done by contacting our support team.
What if I am a reseller/wholesaler client? How can I register my multiple sender IDs?
You can register your sender ID through your account dashboard and upload your sender IDs through our bulk upload feature, which is already live.
I am a reseller/wholesaler client, and I don’t know/I can’t remember how to access my dashboard.
Please refer to this support article on how to get your dashboard access back or how to reset it fully.
Educational and Guidance Materials to the Public
As mentioned in our General Terms and Conditions, MessageBird’s services are designed and intended for commercial use only and are not intended for personal or private individual use.
In any case, in order to promote consumer education about scam SMS, we encourage our customers to share the educational and guidance material available here.
Note: If you suspect that you have received a scam call or SMS from a mobile number connected to a MessageBird customer, please notify us by contacting our support team. At a minimum, you will need to provide basic information such as the suspected scam mobile number, the recipient number, the date and time of the call or SMS, and the content of the call or SMS. This information will allow us to investigate the issue, and once the call or SMS is confirmed to be a scam, take action to block the mobile number from being used for scam voice and SMS messaging.
Attached documents
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