TRANSCRIPT
Scams are becoming more complex and more innovative.
Receiving a text message in the middle of the night warning you of an unpaid fine that is set to expire is not uncommon.
These texts usually come with a link at the bottom, instructing unsuspecting victims to head to an online address so they can pay off their debts.
Darren Pauli, a cyber security expert from Telstra, says these types of scams are becoming more and more common and are purposely sent late at night.
"So, looking at the first two years of cleaner pipes data, we know that SMS scammers are persistent and target us when we're off guard. This means that they're targeting us on the early morning and on the weekend."
New data from Telstra reveals people are most likely to be targeted on a Friday or Saturday, when 11 percent more messages are blocked by the telco on average.
Between one and four in the morning was also found to be a prime time for scam traffic.
Mr Pauli says the messages are purposely sent at that time.
"They hit us when we are tired and distracted which make those early morning messages a real risk to those of us having a late night out or who reach for our phone before our coffee. So fight the urge to respond before you're switched on. And if you get any unexpected messages that you're a little bit suss* on, report it."
Thankfully there are plenty of warning signs on these messages.
They usually impersonate big brands, contain unverified links, ask for financial details or demand immediate action from the recipient.
But Telstra says there's another worrisome trend on the rise, with scammers making use of AI-generated slang phrases, such as "true blue" or "oi mate", to sound more personable.
Cyber security expert from McAfee Tyler McGee says the new technology gives the scammers more options on how they approach their victims.
"It enables them to change their approach quite quickly so today it could be a loyalty program, tomorrow it could be a bank, the day after it could be the ATO, the day after that it could be Medibank."
Despite all the technological upgrades, SMS messages remain the commonly reported scams.
Last year, over 109,000 text messages were found to be misleading, a 37 per cent increase to the year before.
Reportedly, $26.9 million in losses have been recorded by those impacted from the scams.
Dr Suranga Seneviratne, a senior lecturer at the School of Computer Science of the University of Sydney, says it's not unusual to see more of these attempts at specific time periods throughout the year.
"Especially during this time of year, and the end of the year, you will see an increase of these text messages, mainly because it's the tax time or it's the holiday season and more you will see an increase of these messages."
This week, new laws were introduced to parliament that would allow the Australian Communications and Media Authority to set up an SMS-Sender ID register, which would more readily distinguish scammers from recognised businesses.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones says they want to successfully block the messages from reaching the devices of unsuspecting citizens.
"We want to cut the pipelines that the criminals are currently using to contact their victim. And that's SMSs, that's messaging platforms, the phone systems, and it's social media platforms."
Mr Jones says the register will not be able to completely block all spamming attempts, but will filter through a large amount of them.
"We are filtering billions of calls and SMS messages now, when the register is in place we'll be filtering billions and billions more. It'll ensure that people can't fraudulently pretend to be bank or a financial institution because the register will be filtering out all the phony SMS messages. It won't mean that you won't get a fake message on your phone but it means that we'll be filtering out billions and billions more of them."
For now, the message from cyber safety experts is to dial up the caution and skepticism to avoid falling victim to the threat.
