New rules will come into force in an effort to crackdown on scammers targeting Australians on their mobile phones.

In one recent example, scammers pretending to be from Medicare suggest you’ve been in contact with an Omicron case and it offers you the chance to order a free PCR test, but then nabs your personal details.

According to Scamwatch, so far this year Australians have lost over $6.5 million to scam texts, up 188 per cent from last year.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has registered new rules to force phone companies to crack down on these texts.

Telcos will have to identify, trace and block scam messages and if they don’t they’ll be slugged up to $250,000 in penalties.

CEO of the Communications Alliance, John Stanton, says it’s a tricky problem that can’t be entirely eradicated.

He says while they had been successful in blocking scammers from reaching customers by calling them, it’s meant scammers have since turned to text messages.

“Just get rid of it, you can report it to your providers and to the ACCC’s Scamwatch site and they will both take action and alert the industry as a whole that it’s happening.”

Press PLAY below to hear more about the crackdown to ‘disrupt’ the scammers’ business model