Anatel publishes new rules to prevent fraud through SMS

The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) published in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) on Wednesday (4) new rules to increase the security of mobile phone users and make it difficult to enforce scams through text messages (SMS).

Under the rules, mobile operators are required to block messages originating from unregistered codes. Each short code must be linked exclusively to a single company, making it easier to identify the origin of the shipments.

The requirements apply to SMS in the A2P (Application-to-Person) mode, used by companies to send automated messages to users. In this model, the sender is identified by a short code, usually composed of a few digits, such as "29222", rather than a conventional cell phone number.

Anatel’s Board of Directors has ordered mobile phone providers to adopt measures related to the sending of these messages within a period of up to 90 days, such as the implementation and maintenance of a centralized sectoral directory of short codes, available for public consultation, that allows the identification of the legal persons responsible for forwarding the messages and the restriction of the use of the SMS A2P message service to duly identified legal persons.

Operators shall ensure that each short code used to identify the senders of messages is intended for the exclusive use of a single legal person, preventing its sharing.

 

In the US, Flávio Bolsonaro votes remotely in favor of the Security PEC