Phishing emails are sent from falsified or 'spoofed' email addresses. Many phishing emails often claim to be from a bank, online retailer or credit card company. These emails direct recipients to a website that looks like the real website of a retailer or financial institution, which is designed to encourage the visitor to reveal financial details such as credit card numbers, account names and passwords or other personal information.
Phishing spam is covered by the Spam Act and is also considered a criminal offence. The ACMA generally refers any reports of phishing spam directly to the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC). Among other things, the AHTCC will usually try to deregister the website to which the email recipients are being directed in the phishing message.
For more information about How ACMA is fighting spam or to download the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy's (DBCDE) publication on phishing, visit Education and awareness.
