Telstra wants you to dob in a scammer through its new hotline

Telstra is encouraging people to dob in a scammer with the launch of special hotline to ramp up the fight against cyber criminals and keep customers safe.

Australians on the Telstra network who receive a scam message they can forward to a designated number 7226 which actually spells SCAM on the numerical keypad.

Doing this sends an update to a database which is trying to find common patterns and origins.

Telstra already blocks more than 23 million text message scams each month since its Cleaner Pipes initiative was introduced in April 2022.

Scam text messages are designed to either steal your money or your identity and usually are calling for you take urgent action to pay an overdue account, redirect a parcel, restore a suspended account and many others.

The best thing to do is not to react – don’t assume the message is legitimate. In fact, if a message arrives on a number you don’t recognise, it’s safer to assume it’s a scam.

Here’s how you can report a scam with Telstra.

If you are using an iPhone:

1. Touch and hold the message bubble you want to forward, then tap More.
2. Select additional text messages, if desired.
3. Tap Forward and enter 7226.
4. Tap Send

If you have an Android device using the default Messages app:

1. Tap and hold on to the message.
2. Tap on the three-dot menu button and hit Forward.
3. Select or type 7226 and hit Send SMS.