Here’s everything you need to know about what has gone wrong and how you might be affected.
Why am I suddenly seeing phone texts with ‘likely scam’ on them?
It’s a new nationwide system, instigated by the Irish telecoms regulator ComReg and every mobile operator, to crack down on scam texts in Ireland, a plague that costs €115m in fraud charges every year.
The system, which involves companies signing up to a national register so their branded texts to people won’t be labelled as “likely scam”, went live last week.
The idea is akin to what’s called a “white list”, where only verified numbers (that use brand names on their texts) are allowed through without a warning label, with everything else considered potential spam or a scam.
But I just got a ‘likely scam’ label on a text for a legitimate service I signed up for or regularly use – what’s going on?
One of two things. Either the company, utility or organisation you’re dealing with didn’t sign up for the national register (or their outsourced marketing partner that sends their texts for them didn’t) or they did actually sign up and their texts are now being mistakenly labelled as “likely scam”.
Mistakenly labelled? What’s going on? Does this national scam warning system work or not?
Right now, not fully. According to the regulator, it seems to be mistakenly marking genuinely signed-up entities – from banks and hospitals to insurers and vets – as “likely scam”.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – July 9th
How has this happened?
ComReg says it’s the fault of other telecoms firms, or “industry players” as it calls them, without going into further detail. A wide range of mobile operators and SMS aggregators are part of the regulator’s new anti-scam text rollout.
But the three biggest mobile operators – Eir, Vodafone and Three – all told the Irish Independent that their systems are working as required.
So what am I supposed to do with a text marked as ‘likely scam’?
As stupid as this sounds, you may have to suspend your belief that it may be a scam until the system gets fixed or is withdrawn. That means using your own judgment as to whether a text is likely to be real, based on its timing and any relationship you already have with the sender.
Alternatively, you may have to follow up with the service provider to verify its authenticity. It is generally one of these two approaches that many people seem to be taking.
It’s time to check in with elderly relatives if you think they may have inadvertently deleted a medical appointment message. Stock image: Getty
What if my elderly parent deleted a hospital appointment text that said ‘likely scam’, an appointment they’ve been waiting months for?
This is an unfortunate possibility. Given this technical muck-up, it’s a good time to check in with vulnerable groups, such as elderly parents, to ask if any such texts have been received.
It may not be the hospital’s fault that the text was labelled as “likely scam”, and if you miss your appointment date, you may be put back to the end of the queue again.
Who is affected the most?
This newspaper has had hundreds of texts, emails and social media messages from a variety of people affected.
Authentication messages seem badly hit in services ranging from banks, online payment platforms like PayPal and insurance firms like VHI to hospitals, GP practices, vets and a range of other healthcare providers. But it’s across the board.
If it’s causing so much confusion, should the rollout be paused or abandoned?
Officials in ComReg say that’s unlikely to happen as it has been in process for almost a year. They also point out the overall damage scam texts do, with 1,000 people affected each day.
If it’s not being pulled, when will it be fixed?
ComReg says it’s being worked on and hopes it will be fixed “in the coming days”.
Its director of markets, George Merrigan, said it’s “working to make sure it’s fit for purpose”. He also apologised for the “confusion” the “teething problems” have caused.
If I run a small business or a doctor’s practice and want to register so my texts to customers won’t be labelled as scams when the system does get fixed, what do I do?
Go to senderid.comreg.ie and fill in the online forms.
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