Latest news with #ComReg
The Journal
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Explainer: What's going wrong with ComReg's new new scam-text warning system?
A NEW SYSTEM to help phone users identify scam texts has caused some important messages from organisations such as hospitals and banks to be marked as 'Likely Scam'. The Communications Regulator rolled out the system last Thursday to prevent people opening or responding to spam messages which attempt to trick people into clicking unsafe links or sending money. However, issues with the system are causing people to avoid messages from some trusted companies and agencies, including VHI, the CAO, AIB and several hospitals, potentially causing customers to miss important information. Companies had to add themselves to a register to send messages to customers without being labelled as 'Likely Scam', which 8,000 companies have already done, however, a glitch in the system is causing messages from registered companies to be marked as 'scam'. Now, instead of the sender information showing up as the company name, it will appear as 'Likely Scam' so customers cannot tell who they have received a text from. What is the new scam text system? The new ComReg system labels texts from unregistered businesses as 'Likely Scam' to crackdown on the widespread issue of fraudulent messages, and protect people from losing money or revealing sensitive information to scam artists masquerading as trusted businesses. Europe Economics estimates over €300 million is lost each year by Irish consumers and businesses targeted by scam calls and texts. The system labels messages from untrusted senders as 'Likely Scam', and will completely block messages with this label from 3 October this year. Companies must register themselves with the communications regulator's new scheme if they want to send texts to customers without them being flagged as a scam. Advertisement Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS messages often include a SMS Sender ID to indicate who sent the message. It's usually the name of the company or organisation. Now ComReg must be made aware of the ID, otherwise texts sent will be flagged to recipients as 'Likely Scam'. If someone receives a message that says 'Likely Scam', this may be because the sender hasn't yet registered their ID, which companies must do before October to prevent being blocked. What are the issues with the system? The system is accidentally labelling messages from some legitimate businesses as 'Likely Scam'. Speaking to RTE's News At One programme, Comreg's director of market frameworks, George Merrigan, said the issue is caused by ComReg's technical partners. 'In terms of Comreg's own systems, all are working exactly to expectation,' he said. 'The issues we're experiencing are that some industry players are having some technical issues and we are working with them to resolve those issues as quickly as possible.' What are ComReg doing about it? ComReg has apologised for any inconvenience and said they are 'working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible'. 'ComReg is aware that some already registered Sender IDs are being modified to 'Likely Scam' and continues to work with industry parties to resolve any technical issues they are experiencing', they told The Journal . Tom Butler, Public Affairs Manager for ComReg, could not say whether ComReg will disable the 'Likely Scam' programme until the issues are fixed. ComReg are continuing to register all new SenderID applications received. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Domino's text messages labelled ‘likely spam' as new rules come into effect
Domino's Pizza has become one of the first high-profile businesses in Ireland to have its marketing text messages labelled as likely spam following an overhaul of how such communications are managed. On Thursday the communications watchdog ComReg launched a new system aimed at protecting consumers from criminals misrepresenting themselves as legitimate businesses. Companies are now required to register details of their SMS messaging on a database or risk having their communications initially flagged as suspect and ultimately blocked. Irish people and businesses lose about €110 million annually to scammers sending bogus text messages. The scale of the fraud prompted ComReg to introduce new measures. READ MORE The SMS sender ID registry has been designed to protect consumers, services and brands by helping mobile service providers to identify and block fake SMS messages at source. SMS providers will be required to check text messages from SMS sender IDs against the registered SMS sender IDs in the registry. [ Over 8,000 business register with ComReg ahead of anti-scam system roll-out Opens in new window ] More than 8,000 businesses registered on ComReg's register before the deadline on Thursday, with businesses who failed to do so running the risk of having their text messages to customers and potential customers labelled as 'likely scam' after the deadline passed. Earlier this week ComReg urged organisations that had not yet registered their SMS Sender IDs to do so without delay and said registration was 'straightforward and free'. How the wealthy are buying up land to avoid inheritance tax Listen | 22:03 However, the pizza giant, which employs about 3,000 people operating out of stores all over the State, appears to have missed the ComReg warning as messages sent to customers promoting a summer meal deal on Thursday carried the spam warning. The 'likely spam' label attached to the marketing messages would be considered unexpected given the size of the Dominos operation in Ireland and the potential such a label has to harm its reputation and lead to a loss of business. Dominos did not respond to queries from The Irish Times asking whether it had registered its sender IDs with ComReg and if not, why not? It is not the only business to have found its messages being labelled as likely spam, with reports of legitimate sources such as GP practices also falling foul of the new system in is first phase. From October 3rd, SMS messages from unregistered SMS Sender IDs will be blocked.
The Journal
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Unregistered text messages from companies will be labelled as 'likely scam' under new rules from ComReg
COMPANIES MUST NOW add themselves to a register if they want to send texts to customers without them being flagged as a scam. Some 8,000 companies have signed up to the communications regulator's new scheme. Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS messages often include a SMS Sender ID to indicate who sent the message. It's usually the name of the company or organisation. From today, ComReg must be made aware of the ID, otherwise texts sent will be flagged to recipients as 'Likely Scam'. Advertisement The move aims to crackdown on the widespread problem of text scams, where bad actors masquerade as legitimate services, to try to get members of the public to click unsafe links or send money. Europe Economics estimates over €300 million is lost each year by Irish consumers and businesses targeted by scam calls and texts. If someone receives a message that says 'Likely Scam', this may be because the sender hasn't yet registered their ID. ComReg has urged all recipients to double check directly with the company or organisation before engaging. However, from 3 October this year, text messages from unregistered SMS Sender IDs will be blocked automatically, so users won't get them. ComReg says companies and organisations need to register before then in order to avoid being blocked. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
03-07-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
New 'likely scam' tag for texts comes into effect
A new 'likely scam' label will from today be added to text messages that users receive from companies or organisations that have not yet registered with the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) in a bid to protect mobile users from falling victim to scams. Any organisations that fail to register with ComReg will have any text messages they send labelled 'likely scam' to alert the recipient that it may not be legitimate. "You may see 'likely scam' and that means we're not sure they are really the sender of that message," Commissioner Robert Mourik told RTÉ News. "However, at this moment that can also mean your doctor or dentist hasn't yet registered with us. We're asking everyone whose message comes up as 'likely scam' but is genuine, to come to us and register their number." Consumers receiving text messages from the SMS Sender ID 'Likely Scam' are advised to be cautious of the content of those messages and to avoid clicking on links or calling any numbers within those texts. ComReg recommends that they contact the organisation the message claims to be from to see if it is genuine. From 3 October, text messages from unregistered SMS Sender IDs will be blocked altogether and consumers will not receive them at all. ComReg says that over 11,000 SMS Sender IDs have been registered to date. Mr Mourik described this three-month period as a time to allow the system to "settle" as he anticipates more organisations will register. "We know that these scam messages we are going to block are causing about €115-120million of damage every year so we really think and hope that by introducing this measure, we can seriously prevent a lot of harm to the Irish consumer," he said. "People can still receive text messages from normal phone numbers or foreign phone numbers which could also still be fraud. We are talking to Government to see what we can do to tackle those messages as well in the future."
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Over 8,000 business register with ComReg ahead of anti-scam system roll-out
The number of businesses who have registered IDs with the communications watchdog as a scam prevention measure has topped 8,000 with those yet to register being warned marketing messages will be labelled as 'likely scam' from Thursday. Companies who have still not registered by the autumn will risk having all their text messages to customers and potential customers blocked entirely. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) said some 11,000 SMS Sender IDs from more than 8,000 organisations have been recorded on its SMS Sender ID Registry so far. The registration system is aimed at making it harder for criminals to piggy back on legitimate operators by send convincing spam messages to consumers that look like they come from regular sources. READ MORE Irish people and businesses lose around €110 million to scammers sending bogus messages each year and the new system should stop most such messages reaching consumers. ComReg says the SMS sender ID registry will help protect consumers, services and brands by helping mobile service providers to identify and block fake SMS messages. Application-to-person (A2P) SMS messages often include a name (SMS sender ID) to indicate who sent it. This sender ID may be the name of the organisation or public service which sent the text message, for example 234BANK. Scammers often use text messages with fake sender IDs to mimic trusted services and brands. The registry is a secure repository of registered SMS sender IDs and registered sender ID owners. SMS providers will be required to check text messages from SMS sender IDs against the registered SMS sender IDs in the registry to help prevent scam texts reaching consumers. From July 3rd unregistered sender IDs will be modified to 'Likely Scam'. The aim of this modification is to alert the recipient that the SMS may not be legitimate, and to be cautious of the content of the message. From October 3rd SMS messages from unregistered SMS Sender IDs will be blocked. ComReg urged organisations that have not yet registered their SMS Sender IDs to do so without delay and said registration was 'straightforward and free.' Organisations may register their own SMS Sender ID, or their SMS provider may register the SMS Sender ID on their behalf. Organisations can search for and register SMS Sender IDs at
