New data has revealed reports of scams in Australia have jumped up by 18.5%, with scammers most active between the early hours of 1am and 4am, and on Fridays and Saturdays more than any other day of the week.
The data collected from blocking millions and millions of scams reveals text messaging remains a scammer’s favourite way to target Aussies, with over 109,000 SMS scams reported in the last year, marking a 37% increase.
Cyber Security Expert at Telstra Darren Pauli, says the data also shows that scammers tend to slow down at the end of the week, observing Sunday as a rest day, with almost 20% fewer scams blocked on a Sunday compared to the weekly average.
To help protect the nation from scammers, Telstra is urging its customers to take action and snitch on a scammer! To report a suspicious text to Telstra, forward it to 7226 or use the “Report Junk” feature if using an Apple device. By forwarding a scam text message, Aussies can help improve the systems that block scams and prevent them from reaching more people.
Last year, Telstra’s Cleaner Pipes program helped to block an average of 11 million scam SMS messages every month, marking a 69% increase year on year.
