Telstra Fined $277,000 Over SIM-Swap Fraud Failures - Aman Shanti News

A Telstra logo is seen outside the Telstra Melbourne headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, on June 14, 2017. Michael Dodge/Getty Images

Telco giant Telstra has been hit with a $277,200 (US$197,000) penalty after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the company failed to properly verify customers’ identities, leaving them exposed to SIM-swap fraud.

An investigation by the communications watchdog found that between January and October last year, Telstra failed to carry out the required identity authentication checks for 15 unauthorised SIM swaps.

ACMA Authority Member Samantha Yorke said mobile number fraud was frequently the work of organised criminal syndicates and could inflict serious financial damage on victims.

“In this case, Telstra’s frontline staff did not follow the provider’s own processes, leaving customers vulnerable to SIM swap scams and other types of mobile fraud,” Yorke said.

SIM swap fraud occurs when a scammer convinces a telco to transfer a victim’s phone number onto a SIM card the scammer controls, often as a way to access bank accounts or other services protected by SMS-based verification.

The ACMA investigation also uncovered 13 instances in which Telstra’s agents failed to offer additional fraud protections to customers who had either raised concerns themselves or whom Telstra already had reason to believe were at risk.

“When a telco becomes aware that a customer is at risk of fraud involving their service, it must offer protections that are additional or tailored to the situation,” Yorke said.

“These failures exposed Telstra’s customers to real harm, with customers reporting combined financial losses of at least $39,500 after falling victim to fraud.”

Beyond the financial penalty, the ACMA has secured court-enforceable undertakings from Telstra requiring the company to overhaul its fraud prevention systems and improve training for staff dealing directly with customers.

The latest enforcement action stems from ACMA’s ongoing monitoring of Telstra’s compliance following a previous case in 2024, in which the telco was penalised $1.5 million for breaching the same rules.

In 2021, the telco received what was then the largest fine ever issued by ACMA—$2.53 million—over a major customer data breach after it failed to upload nearly 50,000 unlisted customer choices to the national database.

Three years later, the company committed a similar offence, this time affecting around 140,000 people.

However, Telstra is not the only Australian telecommunications provider to have suffered a major customer data breach. In 2022, Optus was the target of a cyberattack that compromised the personal details of 2.1 million customers.

Telstra’s latest fine is the seventh action taken as part of the ACMA’s broader crackdown on mobile number fraud, with telcos now having paid more than $5 million in penalties under the campaign.

The regulator is urging consumers who suspect they have fallen victim to a phone scam to contact their telco and financial institution immediately.

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