On 15 February 2024, Esendex Australia was one of five telecommunication companies to have action taken against it by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for a failure to comply with anti-scam and public safety rules.
These compliance breaches occurred between 12 July 2022 and 8 June 2023, a time when we were working at speed to meet newly-introduced rules from the ACMA and better protect our customers and consumers.
Although those systems are now operational, they were not fully in place during the period under review.
The ACMA’s investigation found that 6.7 million SMS were sent in breach of anti-scam rules using Esendex platforms and 99,000 SMS were sent impersonating well-known brands and government services. The investigation also found that “the same telcos were also found to have failed to provide customer data to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND)”.
As the ACMA reported, no one was directly impacted by these breaches but we take these findings very seriously. Protecting Australians from scam messages and ensuring the integrity of our communications systems is a top priority for Esendex and we support the ACMA’s important work in this area.
Working alongside the ACMA to resolve these challenges, we have received clarity on its regulations with regards to the inclusion of virtual mobile numbers (VMN) used for marketing, promotional and business purposes on the Integrated Public Number Database. Since the clarification that all VMSs must be stored on the database, we have been complying fully with the request.
At no time were our customers or consumers impacted by the non-registration of business use case VMN and the ACMA has acknowledged that it is not aware of any direct harm as a result of the breaches in question.
As an organisation that prides itself on its regulatory compliance and works hard to prevent fraud in the business messaging space, we will continue to do all we can to adhere to current and future regulations as they are introduced by the ACMA.
As part of this commitment, we will also continue to hone our technology that supports best practice compliance and prevents any SMS messaging that does a disservice to our industry.
Jonathan Walsh, Esendex
FAQs
What is the ACMA?
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) regulates communications and media in Australia. It is an independent statutory authority of the Australian Government and is responsible for regulating communications and media services and ensuring compliance with laws and consumer protection standards.
How did this impact Esendex customers?
The ACMA reported that the compliance breaches did not result in any Esendex customers being directly impacted.
What is the IPND?
The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) is a centralised database of public numbers which was established in 1998. IPND data is used for critical purposes by the emergency call service, the emergency alert system and national security and law enforcement agencies.
How did this impact Australian consumers?
The ACMA reported that the compliance breaches did not result in any end users or consumers being directly impacted.
What steps has Esendex taken in response to the findings by the ACMA?
Since being alerted to the potential compliance breaches, Esendex has worked closely with the ACMA to support its investigation and further strengthen our technology and compliance to protect our customers and consumers from scam messages.
Since the clarification that all VMSs must be stored on the IPND database, we have been complying fully with the request from the ACMA.
Protecting Australians from scam messages and ensuring the integrity of our communications systems is a top priority for Esendex and we support the ACMA’s important work in this area.
