Huge Fines For SMS Spammers

The Federal Government has handed out huge fines for a case of SMS spamming

The Federal Court in Brisbane today imposed $6.5 million dollars in penalties against two further respondents in proceedings brought by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) against SMS spammers.

These penalties are in addition to the $15.75 million imposed on five other respondents on 23 October this year and bring the total amount of penalties in this matter to $22.25 million.
The Federal Court imposed upon Jobspy Pty Ltd a penalty of $4 million and upon Scott Mark Moles a penalty of $2.5 million.

The ACMA alleged that Jobspy and Moles were involved in a scheme whereby they, together with other respondents, established fake dating website profiles to obtain mobile telephone numbers of genuine dating website users. These mobile phone numbers were then sent messages from people pretending to want to meet and form a relationship with the recipient. Users who responded to the messages were charged approximately $5 per message.

The ACMA alleged that the scheme has cost Australian mobile phone users in excess of $4 million since its commencement in late 2005.