ASIC Exposes Impersonators Using Alpha Tags in Texts in New Scam Alert

In early April, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) warned again about scammers fraudulently posing as the regulator. This follows previous warnings about impersonators who asked for money transfers for "account security" or demanded payments for "the release of funds or assets."

In the latest warning, ASIC cautioned the public about text messages that fraudulently appear to originate from the regulator. Scammers are using alpha tags—alphanumeric sender identification labels—to make their messages falsely seem to be from ASIC and mislead individuals into sharing their personal and financial information.

Alpha tags are identifiers used in text messages to display the sender's name, often an organization, instead of a phone number. For instance, instead of seeing a message from an unfamiliar number, recipients might see the name of their bank or a government agency as the sender. While alpha tags offer a sense of authenticity, they can be easily misused by scammers to create a deceptive sense of trust.

Source: ASIC (an example of a scammer impersonating ASIC using alpha tags)

ASIC emphasized that it does not communicate via text messages to:

• ask you to provide or update your personal details / financial information 
• renew your business name through its registry service 
• confirm receipt of reports of misconduct 
• offer to assist with lost investments 
• ask for payment of fees.  

ASIC also outlined the following precautions to safeguard against alpha tag scams:

• Stop and check. Do not reply to any message with an alpha tag until you have been able to independently verify the sender's authenticity. Contact the organisation directly using a known and trusted phone number or email address. 
• Never click on links or download attachments from unsolicited messages. Instead, visit the organisation's official website by typing the URL directly into your browser. 
• Enhance your account security by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA). 
• Keep yourself updated on the latest scam tactics by subscribing to alerts from cybersecurity institutions, your service providers such as banks and utility providers, and Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre.  
• If you receive a suspicious message, report it to the legitimate organisation being impersonated. You should also block the sender of the suspicious message and report it to your mobile phone provider. 

The regulator noted that the Australian Communications and Media Authority is working on an SMS Sender ID Register to help protect alpha tags from impersonation by scammers. The Register is expected to launch by 15 December 2025.