The Morrison Government has welcomed the release of Terms of Reference for the Scam Technology Project led by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
The Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield, has asked the ACMA to identify practical solutions for addressing the consumer harms caused by international scam callers. In December 2018, the ACMA established the Scam Technology Project, to explore practical technological solutions to address the rise in scam calls over Australian telecommunications networks.
Experts in cyber security, competition and telecommunications from the ACMA, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Cyber Security Centre will explore technological solutions to combat scam calls.
Research undertaken by the ACMA on unsolicited calls in Australia showed that more than half of Australian adults receive scam calls daily or weekly. We know how tired Australians are of scam callers. We shouldn’t have to be worried about who may be calling us. 
A discussion paper seeking views on potential solutions will be released by the ACMA in coming weeks and a final report is due to the Minister later this year.
In the meantime, the best way to protect yourself against scammers is to stay informed on the latest scams and report activity of this nature towww.scamwatch.gov.au, which is operated by the ACCC. Consumers should remain vigilant about protecting their personal and financial details when interacting on the phone; if you think it could be a scam call, it probably is.
For those who are interested in the Terms of Reference for the Scam Technology Project can have a look here for more information.
It is an honour to be your Federal Member and I want to represent you in the best way possible. Don’t forget to like my Facebook page (Wallace4Fisher) to follow everything I am doing for you here in Fisher, both locally and in Canberra.
 
 
 
Graeme has organised a speaker on cyber safety on Friday 5th April. Its an important area, and one where the older generation (thats me) has to keep up with technology if only to know what the kids are talking about, and especially the dangers they face. A look through the do's and don'ts of on line technology identifies common mistakes that we all make from time to time.
 
Some are so obvious you wonder how people get caught up in these scams...and they do, especially older people who may not understand the technology.
 
Apart from the obvious ones about password protection and only use secure computers, and always logout if you have to use a shared computer. 
 
So here's the best tips I have had on email security...
 
  • Have two email accounts. One thats for family and friends, and one for the lady at the shop when she asked Can I have your email address for our club?
  • Don't use your name in your email. This is how scammers are able to personalise scams. Could a scammer work out your name from your email? Use a compl
 
Also if that guy rings up from Telstra / The bank to tell you that your computer has a security fault and could you log in so that he can fix it for you, just tell him that you don't have a computer. That usually does the trick.