From July 1, charities need to be ‘verified’ to avoid texts being flagged as a potential scam

From July 1, when you get a text claiming to be from the Australian Taxation Office, Australia Post or any other organisation, the first thing to check for will be one little word: “unverified”.

If it says that, be extra careful.

Australia’s phone companies blocked more than 153 million scam text messages in 2025 alone, as part of their obligations under the industry’s scam code. Yet many others are still getting through to our phones.

Until now, scammers have been able to mislabel the top of their texts to pretend to be from banks, government or other legitimate businesses.

From July 1 this year, that’s changing.

Major government agencies and big businesses have been preparing for this change for months. But 97 per cent of businesses in Australia – 2.6 million in total – are small businesses, employing fewer than 20 people.

Along with community organisations, they’ve been warned to act fast to register their “sender ID” – or risk having their texts ignored or even reported as scams from July onwards.

What is ‘sender ID’? Why does it matter?

When you get a text message, it shows the sender’s name if that’s saved in your contact list, or else the phone number if it’s not saved.

Businesses can also text their customers with their organisation’s name at the top of a message. That’s known as the “sender ID”.

Scammers have been taking advantage of this process for years to trick their victims. For instance, you might get what appears to be a message from “AusGov” or “AUPost”: fake sender IDs close enough to the real “myGov” or “AusPost” IDs that they can fool people.

From July 1, under a much-needed government initiative, those scam text messages will show up on your phone under a single “unverified” message thread.

It’s a new way to signal it may be a scam. Over time, the goal is to eventually block more of those scam texts.

Australians lost more than A$2 billion to scams of all varieties in 2025. According to official Scamwatch data, email is still by far the number-one way Australians report being contacted by scammers. But texting is still a common method for scammers.

After July 1, scammers may try to get around it by writing the so-called organisation at the top of the text message – like a “PayPal” text scam going around now.

But from July 1, that same text would say “unverified” at the top, hopefully giving some people pause before they ring the fraudsters.

What businesses and community groups need to do now

While this is a welcome crackdown on scammers, there could be unintended consequences for businesses and community organisations that don’t register their sender ID before July.

Legitimate – but unregistered – texts risk ending up being lumped into the “unverified” thread, along with actual scams.

The national regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), last month acknowledged some small and medium-sized businesses and organisations may not realise the changes apply to them too. It warned “failing to register may mean consumers miss important messages or no longer trust them”.

From local childcare centres and tradespeople to small community groups, if you don’t want your message to be ignored from July 1, now is the time to register your sender ID.

There are two registration options available:

• if you have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• if you don’t have an ABN.

It’s a similar three-step process in both cases. In both cases, you have to start by contact your telco or message provider. Then you’ll need to verify your organisation.

Don’t leave this until the last minute: start now.

When you receive a text after July 1

After July 1, any text message received from an “unverified” source should be treated carefully.

Since many legitimate businesses are yet to get on the Sender ID register, remember: an “unverified” text will not automatically be a scam.

But play it safe anyway. Use different means – such as looking up their official contact number to call them – to confirm it’s legitimate, rather than texting back or using links or numbers in their message.

On the other hand, if you think a new “unverified” message is suspicious, you can help by reporting it.

The easiest way to report a scam text is to forward it to 7226, a reporting line supported by phone companies.

Alternatively, you can also report it via the Scamwatch website. It is a longer five step process, probably designed to avoid false alarms given the volume of reported scams.

Three steps to protect against scams

As well as checking for “unverified” after July 1, Scamwatch already recommends these security steps.

• Stop: Never interact with a suspicious message in a hurry, even if scammers try to pressure you, such as with “Hi Mum” tactics. And never share your pin, password or codes in response to an unexpected text or call.

• Check: Make sure the person or organisation you’re dealing with is real. For instance, check if the phone number or email address on their official website matches what’s in the suspicious text.

• Protect: Contact your bank immediately if you’ve shared financial details or think money is being stolen. Change passwords if you think they’ve been compromised.

Scamwatch lists more support services, such as not-for-profit IDCARE if you need help as an individual or small business.

About the author & The Conversation

Mohiuddin Ahmed is associate professor in cyber security, Adelaide University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.