Scam Calls and SMS

What Check Networks does to reduce scam calls and scam SMS on its network under the Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMs industry code (C661), how partners report scam traffic to us, and what we require for SMS sender IDs.

Check Networks is bound by Communications Alliance industry code C661:2022, Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMs, as a carriage service provider. The measures below run across the voice and SMS services we supply to partners. Your end users hear about them through your own channels.

What we do

Scam calls

Calling number verification. A call may only present an Australian number as its caller ID if that number is hosted on our platform with a valid service record, or the partner has been authorised to present it. Calls that fail this check are refused.
Monitoring for abnormal patterns. We watch for the signatures of scam campaigns, such as bursts of calls to sequential numbers, and alert our operations team so the source can be blocked.
Traceback. When another provider or the ACMA asks us to trace the origin of a scam call that crossed our network, we identify the originating account and respond within the timeframes the code requires.
Blocking. Traffic identified as scam is blocked at the source account or route, and the block is recorded as evidence.

Scam SMS

Content screening. Every outbound message on our SMS platform is screened before it is sent. Messages that show scam characteristics are held for review by a member of our team, who either releases or blocks them. A held message is never sent silently.
Sender ID approval. Alphanumeric sender IDs must be approved before they can be used, and each approval is checked against the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register. A message from an unapproved sender ID is rejected at submission. See SMS Sender ID Register.
Source blocking. An account or route sending scam SMS is blocked and the block is recorded.

Reporting to the regulator

Each quarter we file the scam-blocking return the code requires with the ACMA, reporting the number of scam calls and scam SMS blocked on our network, and we keep the records behind those figures.

What we ask of partners

Only present caller IDs you are entitled to use, and tell us before you need to present numbers that are not hosted with us.
Register the sender IDs you use for SMS with us before your first campaign, and only send messages your recipients have consented to receive.
Tell your end users how to recognise and report scams, and pass their reports to us where the traffic came through our network.
Respond promptly if we contact you about traffic on your account that looks like a scam campaign.

How to report scam traffic to us

If you or one of your end users has received a scam call or SMS that appears to have come through our network, or your numbers are being spoofed, contact us with the date, time, the number involved and any message content:

Scams can also be reported to the Australian Government at scamwatch.gov.au and, where money or data has been lost, to ReportCyber.