Telstra's warning over WhatsApp encrypted messaging scams
Popular encrypted messaging platforms are becoming a safe haven for scammers looking to bypass scam blocking technology, Australia's largest telco has warned.
Telstra has cautioned its customers against flocking to encrypted messaging platforms, flagging users may be more vulnerable to scam messages and calls.
While the security of end-to-end encryption means messages can only be accessed by the sender and receiver, limited visibility for telecommunication providers means their scam blocking technologies cannot scan or filter suspicious activity.
Telstra's Cyber expert Darren Pauli said while encryption was a 'wonderful thing', the nature of these platforms make it tough for Telco's to monitor for potential scams.
'(Encryption) protects banking, it protects everything. And it doesn't care about what the contents are that it's protecting. It just works,' he told NewsWire.
'I think more broadly that wherever the scams are happening, that platform should really genuinely put effort in and money in to really try to crush this.
'It's one of those things that you have to do for the broader security of the internet.'
Telstra is warning customers against flocking to encrypted messaging apps. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers
The telecommunications provider has also flagged an uptick in sophisticated recruitment lure scams, offering fake job opportunities that seem legitimate, and a rise in AI-enhanced scams and deepfakes.
In the 12 months to June, Telstra was forced to block more than 18 million scam calls a month, almost double the number from the previous year.
It also intercepted an average of more than 8 million scam text messages a month, and observed a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in reports of suspicious contacts.
'These fake job offers and recruitment scams are particularly nasty … they're targeting people who are vulnerable,' Mr Pauli said.
'They might be looking for work or whatever, and they will come out with offers of work from home, with good remuneration, and a quick interview process … So these are really quite lucrative and enticing offers.
Australia's largest Telco has warned of increasingly sophisticated scams that bypass its scam block technology through encrypted messaging apps. Picture: Supplied
'The tragedy really is that these scams are all about harvesting personal information (which) they then use for identity theft and sell it on the dark market.'
Despite the increasingly sophisticated methods used by scammers, the National Anti-Scam Centre's Targeting report recorded a 25 per cent drop in losses between 2023 and 2024.
Telstra's 'Cleaner Pipes' cyber initiative comes amid a massive advocacy push across the telecommunications and banking industry, spreading awareness to the harms of scams.
'I'm genuinely impressed with what the industry as a whole has done. It's remarkable stuff,' Mr Pauli said.
'They are frustrating scammers who are trying to hammer out texts or phone calls and it's not working and it costs (the scammers) money.
'If they weren't such terrible people I'd almost have some sympathy for them.'
Originally published as Telstra warns of new wave of scams on encrypted messaging apps
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