SMS Geo Permissions
This guide shows you how to use SMS Geo Permissions to reduce your exposure to SMS-based fraud and related unexpected financial risks.
- Learn what SMS Geo Permissions are and why setting them appropriately is critical
- Follow the step-by-step guide on how to change SMS Geo Permissions
- Understand how to work with SMS Geo Permission when using Subaccounts or Twilio Organizations
- Find out how to audit SMS Geo Permission changes
Twilio supports sending SMS messages to many countries globally. While this capability provides you with a wide reach to serve your use cases, it is just as important to use the tools available to you to manage your exposure to risks such as SMS Pumping Fraud.
SMS Geo Permissions are one such tool. Configuring SMS Geo Permissions allows you to control the list of countries to which you can send SMS messages. Given the rise of fraud in the SMS ecosystem, Twilio recommends disabling destination countries your business doesn't use or uses infrequently as a line of defense against fraudulent activity.
By default a newly created account allows messages to be sent to your home country as determined by the phone number you verified during signup. You can follow the steps in the following How to change SMS Geo Permissions section to judiciously enable and disable SMS Geo Permissions by country.
Warning
Each country has its own regulatory framework governing the use of SMS messages. Regulatory provisions may differ by sender type and use case. They may include additional registration requirements and define prohibited use cases.
You are responsible for compliance with the applicable country-specific regulations. Please review the SMS Guidelines for a country before you consider enabling its SMS Geo Permissions.
As you decide whether to enable SMS Geo Permissions for additional countries, please make sure to review the What's Next? section at the end of this page for further guidance on ways to mitigate your risk exposure using Twilio products and best practices.
Info
SMS Geo-Permissions can not be changed programmatically via the API for security reasons.
Warning
Only users with Account Owner and Account Admin profiles can modify SMS Geo Permissions.
Ensure you are logged into the Twilio Account for which you want to change the permissions.
Navigate to Console > Messaging > Settings > Geo Permissions.
If your changes include the enabling of SMS Geo Permissions for one or more countries that were marked High Risk for fraudulent activity, a Risk Acknowledgement Confirmation Dialog is shown. The dialog contains the list of affected countries and asks you to acknowledge:
- The resulting assumption of the increased risk and financial exposure
- Your responsibility to take actions to mitigate such risks.
If you decide to proceed, check the I Acknowledge this risk checkbox and then press the Enable Geo Permissions button.
Otherwise, press the Cancel button and return to Step 2 - Adjust your SMS Geo Permission settings.
- Risk exposure warning
- List of high risk countries to be enabled
- Risk acknowledgement checkbox
- Enable geo permissions button
- Cancel button