Scam, spam and disruption policy

Contents

1. 1. Why this policy exists
2. 2. What we may treat as a scam or spam risk
3. 3. What we may do, including on suspicion
4. 4. Regulator, carrier and traceback notices
5. 5. SMS Sender ID Register
6. 6. Caller ID, CLI and numbers
7. 7. Identity, rights of use and legitimate use
8. 8. Notice to you after we act
9. 9. Fees, liability and indemnity
10. 10. Complaints

1. Why this policy exists

Scam calls, scam SMS, brand-impersonation texts, caller-ID spoofing and spam are a current enforcement priority in Australia. Carriage service providers can be directed to disrupt traffic, cancel numbers, report to the ACMA, and cooperate with other providers. Telcos have been fined for failing to do so.

The rules this policy is written against include the Spam Act 2003, the Do Not Call Register Act 2006, the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Telecommunications Numbering Plan, Industry Code C661:2022 Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMs, the Telecommunications (SMS Sender ID Register) Industry Standard 2025, CLI and numbering industry rules, and the Scams Prevention Framework under the Competition and Consumer Act as it applies to telecommunications. Later codes, standards and directions that replace or add to those rules are included as they come into force.

We will comply with those rules even if you disagree with a particular block, and even if the traffic later turns out not to have been a scam, provided we acted on reasonable grounds or on a notice we were required to follow.

2. What we may treat as a scam or spam risk

We may treat traffic, a number, a sender ID, an AI agent, a campaign or an account as a scam or spam risk if we have reasonable grounds to suspect it, including any of the following:

• phishing, smishing, vishing, impersonation of a bank, government agency, delivery company, telco or other brand
• caller-ID spoofing, unauthorised CLI overstamping, or presenting a number or sender ID you are not entitled to use
• wangiri or one-ring callback scams, call-back scams using an Australian number, or short-duration or high-volume patterns typical of scam traffic
• traffic pumping, artificially inflated traffic, or destination or CLI patterns that breach carrier or industry traffic-quality rules
• unlawful telemarketing, e-marketing or SMS marketing, including missing consent, missing unsubscribe, or Do Not Call Register breaches
• use of an alphanumeric sender ID that is not registered, not authorised, restricted, or likely to mislead a recipient
• use of a number on a do-not-originate or similar industry or regulator list, or a number the ACMA has cancelled or directed be withdrawn
• a complaint, traceback, carrier reject, National Anti-Scam Centre referral, police request, or ACMA or other regulator notice

3. What we may do, including on suspicion

If we reasonably suspect a scam or spam risk, or if we receive a relevant notice, we may do any of the following immediately, without prior notice to you:

• block, filter, rate-limit, divert, over-stamp, quarantine or otherwise disrupt calls, messages, numbers, sender IDs, CLI, AI agents or campaigns
• suspend, restrict or disconnect a service, extension, trunk, API key, BYOC route, tenant or account, in whole or in part
• rotate or revoke credentials, and disable outbound calling or messaging while leaving inbound or emergency access where we reasonably can
• refuse, delay or reverse a number port, and refuse to issue, present or register a number or sender ID
• recover or quarantine numbers in accordance with numbering rules, and refuse a port-out of a number used or suspected to have been used in a scam
• keep, copy and analyse traffic metadata, content we already hold, configuration and account records for investigation, traceback and reporting
• report and share information with the ACMA, the National Anti-Scam Centre, police, other carriers and carriage service providers, numbering and sender-ID operators, and upstream providers, as the law or an industry code allows or requires

4. Regulator, carrier and traceback notices

We will comply with a direction, notice, request or requirement from the ACMA, a court, police, the National Anti-Scam Centre, a carrier, another carriage service provider performing traceback, or an industry traceback or sender-ID operator, including a requirement to block, take down, disconnect, over-stamp, report or preserve evidence.

That includes notices that a number, sender ID or campaign must be disrupted; that a smartnumber or other number has been cancelled; that we must participate in traceback; or that we must not carry particular CLI or international traffic.

We may act on the notice without first hearing from you. We do not have to delay while you dispute the notice with us or with the sender. If a law enforcement agency asks us not to tell you, we will follow that request.

You must cooperate. That includes answering traceback and identity questions promptly, giving consent and campaign records, identifying who originated the traffic, and suspending your own end users or end customers when we tell you to. If you do not cooperate we may treat that as confirmation of the risk and extend the disruption.

5. SMS Sender ID Register

From 1 July 2026, alphanumeric sender IDs used in SMS and MMS to Australian mobiles are subject to the SMS Sender ID Register. Unregistered sender IDs may be over-stamped "Unverified" and grouped with other unverified messages. Telcos that do not participate cannot carry sender-ID traffic.

You must only use a sender ID you are entitled to use, with a clear and legitimate reason (for example it matches your business name or trade mark). You must not use a restricted, misleading, government, bank or other protected term you do not have the right to use. You must give us the information and authority we need to verify and, where we offer it, register a sender ID for you.

We may refuse to send a message with a sender ID, over-stamp it, or require you to send from a number instead of a name. Registration is not a promise that the message will be delivered or trusted. You remain responsible for Spam Act consent and content.

Messages sent from a plain phone number rather than a branded sender ID still have to comply with this policy and with spam and telemarketing law.

6. Caller ID, CLI and numbers

You must not spoof, fabricate or unlawfully over-stamp calling line identification. Lawful presentation of a number you have the right to use, with a legitimate use case, is different from spoofing. We may require evidence of that right of use before we will present a CLI or connect outbound calling.

We may block calls that have no CLI, that use a spoofed Australian number, that arrive from overseas with an Australian CLI we cannot verify, or that use a number on a do-not-originate or similar list.

If the ACMA cancels a number, or numbering rules require withdrawal or quarantine, we will comply. You have no property in the number. We may refuse to reinstate a number used in a scam.

7. Identity, rights of use and legitimate use

We may verify your identity, the identity of authorised representatives, and rights of use for numbers and sender IDs before we supply a service and at any time afterwards. We may refuse or withdraw a service if we cannot complete that verification, if the use case is not legitimate, or if the risk is too high.

If you are a reseller, you must do equivalent checks on your end customers before you ask us to provision them, and on an ongoing basis. You must not onboard a customer you have not identified. High-risk services (including outbound voice, SMS, alphanumeric sender IDs, and the ability to present a number not issued on the same service) need a documented legitimate use case.

8. Notice to you after we act

This is not a credit-management suspension. The notice periods that apply to unpaid bills do not apply to scam, spam, fraud or illegal-use disruption.

Where we reasonably can, and where telling you will not increase harm or breach a law-enforcement request, we will tell your authorised account contact after we have disrupted the traffic, what we have done, and what we need from you. We may require a written explanation and evidence before we consider restoration.

We do not have to restore a service. We may restore in part (for example inbound only), impose caps, or terminate. Restoration does not waive a breach or a fee.

9. Fees, liability and indemnity

Fees continue to accrue during a disruption caused by a suspected or confirmed scam or spam risk on your side, unless we say otherwise. We do not refund usage, numbers or subscriptions for traffic we blocked or services we suspended under this policy.

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for loss arising from a block, over-stamp, suspension, disconnection, refused port, refused sender ID, delayed restoration, or disclosure we make in good faith under this policy, including where the traffic is later found not to have been a scam, if we acted on reasonable grounds or on a notice we were required to follow. Australian Consumer Law rights that cannot be excluded still apply.

You indemnify us against loss, damage, claims, carrier pass-through costs, and regulatory penalties or undertakings we reasonably incur because of your or your users' or end customers' scam, spam, spoofing or illegal traffic, or because you failed to cooperate with a traceback or identity request, except to the extent we caused the loss by our negligence or wilful misconduct.

10. Complaints

If you think we disrupted legitimate traffic, use the Complaints Handling Policy. We will review. We may keep the disruption in place while we review. A complaint does not require us to restore the service, to stop cooperating with a regulator, or to tell you information we are not allowed to disclose.