In 2025, 2.7 trillion SMS messages are forecast to be sent globally. Across industries, organizations such as banks, hospitals, pharmacies, GP practices, delivery companies, schools, and clubs rely on Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS to communicate with customers, clients, and members. These messages often deliver critical time-sensitive information, such as financial transactions alerts, delivery updates, appointment reminders, and authentication codes. To help recipients identify the sender, A2P SMS messages commonly include an alphanumeric Sender ID (e.g., 234BANK).
The growing prevalence of SMS fraud has compromised this trusted channel. Fraudsters increasingly spoof legitimate Sender IDs to impersonate well-known organizations, misleading consumers and undermining both user trust and brand integrity.
The SMS Sender ID Protection Registry: ComReg’s Response to Fraud
To combat the growing threat of fraudulent SMS activity, the Irish Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) launched the SMS Sender ID Protection Registry in May 2025. This national registry enables legitimate organizations to register their SMS Sender IDs, ensuring that only verified senders can use them.
Participating mobile service providers and messaging aggregators can use the registry to detect and block messages sent from unregistered or spoofed Sender IDs, preventing scams before they reach consumers.This proactive approach helps safeguard users, restore trust in SMS communications, and protect brand integrity.
Timeline on ComReg’s Sender ID Implementation
Since 3 July 2025, messages sent from unregistered Sender IDs have been labeled “Likely Scam”, helping consumers identify and avoid potential fraud.
While the blocking of A2P SMS messages from unregistered Sender IDs was originally scheduled to begin on 3 October 2025, ComReg has postponed this phase due to technical integration challenges among industry participants (Source: ComReg Update – 19 September 2025).
Despite this delay, the anti-scam measures are active, and messages from unregistered Sender IDs continue to be flagged with warnings. Full blocking will be implemented once technical readiness is confirmed.
iBASIS Business Messaging: Enabling Secure, Trusted, and Compliant messaging
As a participating aggregator, iBASIS Business Messaging is proud to support ComReg’s SMS Sender ID Protection initiative, helping enterprises protect their communications and maintain consumer trust. Our services are built on global expertise through participation in similar anti-fraud initiatives in markets such as Singapore, ensuring:
- Secure and compliant delivery of A2P SMS traffic
- Trusted gateway access to regulated destinations
We strongly encourage all organizations using SMS for customer engagement to register their Sender IDs with ComReg to ensure uninterrupted and trusted communication.
Whether you are a financial institution, healthcare provider, logistics company, or public service organization, iBASIS Business Messaging delivers the tools, infrastructure, and expertise to keep your customer interactions secure, compliant, and resilient.