SIMProtect Launch, educating the public on mobile number porting scams
Cyber-criminals target Australians’ mobile phones, because businesses (e.g. online banking, superannuation funds, email and social media providers) commonly use SMS messages for two-factor authentication of their customers’ identity. Unauthorised mobile phone porting attacks enable cyber-criminals to impersonate their victims and gain control over their online accounts to steal their money, reset their passwords, apply for credit in their victim’s name, etc., because the criminals receive the two-factor authentication SMS code rather than the victim. Unfortunately, most consumers are not aware of this risk. Mobile phones were by far the most prevalent delivery technique among the 20,000 identity theft incidents reported in 2020 according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Combining multidisciplinary research in cyber security, risk management and behavioural psychology, Professor Stefan Trueck, Dr John Selby, Dr Fabiola Barba Ponce, and Professor Christophe Doche created and launched the SIMProtect Project. SIMProtect aims to improve the social welfare and individual wellbeing of Australians by raising awareness and better protecting consumers from the risks of fraudulent mobile number porting and identity theft.
On May 26th 2021 at the Macquarie City Campus, the research team launched the three major outputs of the project: an innovative website, an interactive online game, and an educational video. The project also involves a social media campaign to raise awareness in the Australian community about the risks of mobile number porting and identity theft.
The event was attended by the public, journalists from various media outlets and key members of the project’s main partners and funding bodies, the Ecstra Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation committed to improving the financial wellbeing of all Australians, the Optus Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub and Macquarie Business School.
Since its launch, the project has already educated over 50,000 Australians about mobile number porting risks, while the SIMProtect website continues to attract more than 2,000 Australian visitors per week.
