Tips to help consumers protect their telco account from fraudsters

When we talk about fraudulent account access, we mean any malicious activity by a third party used to gain access to a consumer’s phone or internet account and act without their authorisation.

Make your phone or internet account as secure as possible

Use strong passwords. Never use the same password for multiple accounts. Consider using password management software instead of storing them in text.
Ask your provider about the availability of extra security. One example is Multi-Factor Authentication.

Limit the amount of personal information available in the public domain

Put your social media on private, so personal information about you cannot be viewed by the public.
Lock your mailbox to reduce the chances of bills or other letters containing your personal information being stolen.

Make sure you’re really speaking with your provider

If someone calls you offering you a deal that seems too good to be true, consider ending the call, looking up your provider’s phone number, and calling directly to enquire about the deal.
Familiarise yourself with how your provider normally communicates with you, so you can know what to look out for.
- Sometimes SMSs and emails from fraudsters may have spelling and grammar errors, unfamiliar links, or strange formatting.
- Other times, they may look genuine and even include company logos, but may ask for information that the real company would not ask for.
- If you’re unsure whether you are speaking to your provider, hang up and contact your provider directly. For example, most providers do not call consumers to ask for one-time codes that have been sent to the consumer.

Report any strange activity to your provider immediately

If your provider sends you a notification saying you have changed your account details or made a new order, and you did not authorise any changes, this could mean someone recently attempted to fraudulently access your account.

Contact your provider as soon as possible.

What to do if you think you’ve fallen victim to fraudulent account access

Report the fraud to your local police, IDCare, and your provider.
If money has been taken from your bank account, contact your bank.
If products or services have been added to your phone or internet account, contact your provider.
Further information about hacking, identity theft, phishing, and remote access scams can be found at the ACCC’s ScamWatch (www.scamwatch.gov.au).

Resources

Download the Consumer Tip Sheet

Download ACSC's step-by-step guide on checking your email account security

Other guides for Privacy and safety

Unauthorised access of telco accounts

We deal with complaints about providers not taking proper care of your telco account and personal information. This may include by allowing others to access or make changes to your telco account without your authority, such as allowing SIM swaps or adding new purchases.

Help for phone and internet consumers experiencing family violence

Threats, harassment and scams

We deal with complaints about providers not following the correct process to respond when their service was used to contact you with a bomb threat, a threat of serious injury or kidnapping, a threat to public safety or an extortion demand, and unwelcome calls. We also deal with complaints about providers granting third parties’ access to telecommunications accounts without authority. We cannot deal with complaints about fraudsters or scammers and their behaviour.

Privacy

We can help with your complaints about problems with a silent line. We also deal with complaints about how a provider has managed your personal information, such as your contact details or credit information.

We worked with Sparrow Net to improve its account security process

Complaint

Existing account security process was not always suitable for consumers who were experiencing family violence

Outcome

Improvement of account security processes to prevent consumer’s personal information being accessed or disclosed without authority

Internet

Mobile phone

Systemic investigation – Consumers could not report urgent complaints

Complaint

We identified an increase in urgent complaints from consumers who could not contact Mode Telco to report service issues

Outcome

Mode Telco redeployed staff from its retail outlets to contact centres and recruited new staff, after which, we observed a significant decrease in urgent complaints

Home phone

Internet

Mobile phone

This page was last updated on

09th Jun 2023