How to tell a genuine Pennytel text from a scam
Scammers send fake text messages pretending to be from your phone company. The quickest check is the sender name a message comes from.
Our official SMS sender IDs
Genuine Pennytel text messages come from one of these sender names:
- PENNYTEL
- MOBILESVCS
Treat any other sender name that claims to be Pennytel as suspect.
What the SMS Sender ID Register means for you
Australia runs a mandatory SMS Sender ID Register. Legitimate business sender names like ours are verified against the register. From 1 July 2026, if you receive a message where the sender name shows as “Unverified”, take extra care — it may not be from the business it claims to be.
We will never
- send you a payment link by SMS;
- ask for your PIN, password or a one-time security code;
- threaten to disconnect your service immediately unless you pay.
If a message asks for any of these, don’t act on it.
How to report a suspicious message
- Forward the text to 7726 (it spells “SPAM”, and it’s free) so it can be investigated.
- Report scams at scamwatch.gov.au.
- If you’re not sure whether a message is really from us, call us on 1300 232 888 before you click anything.
For the full details, read our Scam Calls and Scam SMS Safety Policy.