Phone porting scams are on the rise in Australia: What you need to know

Phone porting is a form of identity theft. It involves scammers ‘porting’ or transferring your mobile number to another device or telecommunications (telco) provider. 

Porting is a legitimate service that allows you to set up your mobile number with a different telco provider. Criminals take advantage of this, by contacting a separate provider and requesting your number be transferred. 

Once the number has been transferred, scammers will receive text messages addressed to your mobile number. This includes verification codes or password resets, for any accounts that are connected to your mobile number. From here, they can access and change passwords to your email and banking accounts, and government portals like MyGov. 

Scammers often use information that's usually available on your social media accounts, like your full name, date of birth, and mobile number. Once they have access to this information, they can go on to prove to a telco that it really is you trying to port your number, and go on to authorise financial withdrawals or transfers to themselves.

We recommend keeping your information as private as possible, including removing your birthday and mobile number from apps like Facebook and Instagram. Changing your social media privacy settings can keep you safe, as your information and posts can only be seen by those you know. 

Don’t click on any links that seem suspicious. If you receive an email or a text offering a huge reward or sum of money in exchange for any bank details or personal information it's probably a scam. Look out for any messages or emails from your telco provider notifying you of the request to port your number to a different provider – this could indicate you’re a victim of a porting scam.

Another way to remain safe is to not use the same password for all of your social media and bank accounts. Use a password manager to generate strong, hard-to-guess passwords that scammers will have a difficult time trying to crack.

Your phone number is an easy access point for scammers. You'll know this if you've ever received a voicemail from someone impersonating the Australian Taxation Office, or an SMS with a sketchy link letting you know that your 'parcel' is stuck in customs. Keep your information private, and don't respond to or click on any links that seem suspicious. If you think you may have been scammed, notify your telco provider and report the scam to the police, your financial institution, and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.