The Australian Communications and Media Authority has received complaints of SMS messages which contain death threats if the recipient ignores the message.

‘Undoubtedly, a member of the public may be distressed to receive such a message, but they should not be alarmed,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA. ‘These threats are a particularly nasty type of scam. The messages should simply be ignored – they are intended to frighten recipients into providing money, credit card details and personal information to the scammer. If you receive messages of this type, report them to the ACMA.’

The ACMA has confirmed that the SMS messages are originating from an overseas location. Recipients are urged to ignore the messages and, under no circumstances reply to the scammers, disclose any personal information, or pay money.

The public can report spam at ACMA’s spam website www.spam.acma.gov.au or by telephone.