As part of our Cleaner Pipes initiative to help protect our customers from scam SMS, we’ve launched an SMS scam filter to identify and block malicious SMS with suspicious links or telephone numbers before they reach your mobile phone.
As an SMS travels along our network, its content is scanned by a machine that looks for suspicious patterns and characteristics. Experts review suspicious messages to identify if there is a scam (with the details of the recipient remaining masked). Where a scam is identified the technology will block future messages with the same criteria or near matches.
The SMS scam filter can be managed through the My Telstra app:
You don’t need to do anything. We’ve activated it across our mobile network so you’re already receiving the benefits of Telstra identifying and blocking malicious SMS.
We won’t send you an email or SMS to opt in – if you receive one it’ll be a scam so don’t click on any links, instead report misuse of service and then delete it.
The SMS scam filter blocks millions of malicious SMS sent to Telstra customers per day.
When you send an SMS to 0438 214 682, you’ll receive one of the following automated responses:
“The SMS Scam Filter is now activated for your mobile service. This technology is designed to reduce the number of SMS Scam messages delivered to your mobile service. You can opt- out of this service by texting FILTER OFF to 0438 214 682.”
“The SMS Scam Filter is now OFF for this service. To turn on, text FILTER ON to 0438 214 682.”
“The SMS Scam Filter is now OFF for this service. To turn on, text FILTER ON to 0438 214 682.” or “The SMS Scam Filter is now ON for this mobile service. This technology is designed to reduce the number of SMS Scam messages delivered to your mobile service. You can opt out of this service by texting FILTER OFF to 0438 214 682.”
“Sorry, the command you sent was unrecognised. Please send a message that contains one of the following commands:
Telstra takes its Privacy obligations very seriously and operates in accordance with all legislation.
We are committed to protecting your privacy, keeping your personal information safe and ensuring the security of your data.
The SMS scam filter system is designed and operated for identifying and blocking malicious SMS. It can’t be used to monitor any individual or conversation topics.
Access to the platform is restricted to specialist Telstra staff in Australia who review a sample of suspected malicious messages to verify whether it’s part of a scam or cybercrime campaign without revealing the identity of the recipient. This manual review work is important because it helps us fine tune the technology as scams continue to evolve. All access for specialist Telstra staff in Australia is strictly restricted, logged, and monitored.
The platform has undergone security penetration testing to ensure it’s not accessible to external or internal hacking and abuse. It’s built and maintained according to cyber security best practices, as we remain committed to protecting the privacy of our customers.
You can learn more about our Privacy Statement and Privacy at Telstra.
Yes, nothing has changed. You can learn more about our Privacy Statement and Privacy at Telstra.
Telstra takes its Privacy obligations very seriously and operates in accordance with all legislation.
We are committed to protecting your privacy, keeping your personal information safe and ensuring the security of your data. The technology is intended to improve customer experience, by implementing robust cyber security measures to help reduce the number of scams that you are exposed to.
The technology requires some degree of manual review by people. A small internal technical team in Australia reviews a sample of suspected malicious messages including any link or telephone number included in the message.
To protect the privacy of individuals, the identity of the recipient is masked before the sample of suspicious content is manually reviewed. If the team confirms the message is malicious, they will adjust the technology to block future messages with the same criteria or near matches for all Telstra customers, unless the recipient has opted out.
This manual confirmation helps reduce the risk of blocking legitimate messages. The platform cannot be used for any other purpose and is secure, with access restricted and logged.
No. This process is not a fool-proof solution to preventing all malicious SMS reaching you. Criminals are constantly finding new ways to attempt to scam Australians. For example, if they guess we have blocked a message that has a suspicious link, they will try to change the characteristics of the malicious SMS to avoid being blocked.
You should continue to be alert when you receive unsolicited SMS with links or phone numbers. Never click on a link and always double-check by reaching out to a company using contact details from their official website.
We can’t guarantee 100 per cent accuracy of the scam filter so there’s a very small chance that a legitimate message will not be delivered to you. (The SMS scam filter uses algorithms to detect suspicious patterns that indicate scam or cybercrime, so we don’t expect it to identify and block genuine messages.)
If you’re a Telstra Business customer and have evidence that your legitimate messages are not being delivered, you should report it to our faults team on 13 20 00.
If you’ve got a personal account and have evidence that a legitimate message has been blocked, you should call 13 22 00 to report it. If you believe you’ve received a malicious SMS, you can report misuse of service.
If you get an SMS you believe is a scam, you can report misuse of service.
The SMS scam filter will not block unsolicited or unwanted commercial messages or ‘spam’. To unsubscribe to legitimate business spam or marketing SMS, you can reply STOP.
The SMS scam filter is designed to block malicious SMS trying to mislead or deceive you into using the malicious link or telephone number.
Messages will only be blocked after having been verified as malicious against agreed criteria with support from our cyber and scam experts.
Legitimate commercial messaging sources are excluded from blocking. This means that SMS sent on the Telstra network by banks and other businesses, government departments, Emergency Alerts, and Telstra applications like MessageBank are not scanned by the SMS scam filter and will not be blocked.
If you’re a Telstra Business customer sending many legitimate messages and have evidence that your messages are not being delivered, you should report a fault to our faults team on 13 20 00.
The SMS scam filter product is provided by one of our specialist telecommunications suppliers and is operated by Telstra staff in Australia.
Politicians, charities, and religious organisations are some of the organisations and entities that have exemptions to the Spam Act. They will not be blocked under the SMS scam filter. Read more about blocking political texts.
The SMS scam filter can only be applied to SMS on services over the Telstra mobile network. It’s not applied to over-the- top messaging applications like iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or end-to-end encrypted services.
If you receive a scam using one of those applications, you should report it to the operator of the service.
It’s another tool in the fight against SMS scams and extends our industry-leading Cleaner Pipes initiative that helps protect our customers from scam phone calls and messages, and computer intrusions. The number of SMS malware scams hitting Australians has increased significantly in recent months. Telstra customers have reported record numbers of SMS carrying malicious content targeting Android devices, with 11,100 reports this year compared to just 50 in 2020. This jump is due in large part to the cybercrime campaign known as FluBot.