Scammers are getting to know their targets very well. After analysing data from 2022 and 2023, Telstra says Australians are more likely to receive a dodgy text message on a Friday or a Saturday.
Telstra says it blocks on average 11% more scams on Friday and Saturday than any other day of the week. The big telco’s security operations also noted that scammers like to hassle Australians between 1am and 4am.
By targeting Thursday and Friday scammers are clearly trying to take advantage of Australians when they are out partying or distracted by other weekend duties, like sleep. SMS is a preferred method because it usually involves a quick response and during these hours it’s a strategy that appears to be working.
The good news is we get a bit of a reprieve on Sundays with Telstra reporting it blocks almost 20% fewer scam messages compared to the weekly average.
But the overall numbers show that we are just keeping ahead of the bad guys. It’s important to remain vigilant as Telstra blocks an average of 11 million scam SMS messages every month – an increase of 69% year on year.
You can find more information on scams from Telstra here.