Austrian Regulator to Block Fraudulent SMS
Why this is here: The regulator expects the new SMS verification process to block the majority of fraudulent messages by requiring sender registration in a public RTR database.
Austria’s telecom regulator, RTR, will implement a new regulation to combat fraudulent SMS messages. The RTR reported 10,205 cases of fraudulent SMS in the last year, a 60 percent increase from 2023.
The new “SMS-Trust-Regulation,” effective this week, requires mobile operators to verify sender IDs against a public register maintained by the RTR. Messages from unregistered sender IDs will be blocked. Companies wanting to display their name as the sender must register their alphanumeric sender ID with both their mobile provider and the RTR.
RTR Managing Director Klaus Steinmaurer stated the measure should resolve 80 to 90 percent of the problem, with a European-level solution needed for the remainder. The regulator also handled 1,667 dispute resolution cases related to communications services last year, with an average dispute value of 375 euros.