Telstra has paid a $277,200 penalty after failing to use mandatory identity checks in 15 unauthorised SIM swap incidents between January and October 2025, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said. The regulator also found 13 instances where staff did not offer extra fraud protections to high-risk customers, leaving them vulnerable to mobile scams that resulted in combined losses of at least $39,500.

"When a telco becomes aware that a customer is at risk of fraud involving their service, it must offer protections that are additional or tailored to the situation," said ACMA Authority Member Samantha Yorke. "These failures exposed Telstra's customers to real harm." As part of the penalty, Telstra must overhaul its fraud prevention processes and improve training for customer-facing staff. This is the seventh enforcement action in ACMA's crackdown on mobile number fraud, with telecommunications providers paying over $5 million in total penalties to date, AU data breach reports.