Australian Financial Firm Fined 55K For Spamming

Australian financial services firm CommSec was fined $55,000 (roughly $48K US) for violating that country’s Spam Act. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) levied the fine after it launched an investigation into the company’s mail campaigns and found they were in violation of the Spam Act. That Act, like the CAN-SPAM Act, requires that all commercial email include a way to unsubscribe and that emailers honor those requests. The ACMA’s investigation, prompted by numerous consumer complaints, found that the company’s emails had no unsubscribe directions and that they ignored requests from consumers who asked to be taken off their mailing list.

          “ACMA expects that Australian businesses take note of this outcome,” ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said. “Under the Spam Act, every person has the right to unsubscribe from receiving commercial electronic messages and to have that request acted on effectively and quickly. The failure to act on a request can result in significant penalties if a business is found to have breached the Act.”

CommSec sent over 6 million advertising emails in 2009. The company says it has agreed to have an independent consultant to review its compliance systems and to also provide additional training to its staff.