A text message registration system allowing the public to identify telecommunications service providers and avoid scams will be implemented next Thursday, the government has announced.
The scheme, by the Office of the Communications Authority (OCA), will first cover 23 telecommunications service providers including CSL Mobile, SmarTone Mobile Communications, China Mobile Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Telecommunications.
Text messages from those 23 companies, which will be considered registered senders under the scheme, will be labelled with an ID accompanied by a hash (#) symbol, according to a statement issued by the authority on Wednesday.
“Following the establishment of the working group with the HKPF and the telecommunications sector in early September last year[,] … the launch of the Scheme will further help stop fraudsters from masquerading as telecommunications service providers in sending SMS messages to mobile service users,” the statement read.
Text messages sent by an ID containing a “#” symbol but not registered under the system will be blocked.
The authority also reminded the public to “stay highly vigilant when receiving SMS from unknown senders.” It also warned against disclosing personal information, bank account numbers or credit card details, as well as transferring money or accessing hyperlinks.
“OFCA will closely monitor the implementation of the Scheme and will discuss with other sectors and government departments to encourage more sectors which use SMS to communicate with customers to participate in the Scheme, so as to further expand the Scheme and to assist law enforcement agencies in combating scam activities,” the statement read.
Scams on the rise
The scheme comes as the the city recorded more than 23,000 phone and online scams between January and September this year, according to the police force. The scams resulted in some HK$4.4 billion in losses.
But security chief Chris Tang told lawmaker Kenneth Leung that the police did not keep figures on the number of reports and request for assistance, or have information on the victims’ ages.
Also last month, Hong Kong police said scammers were touting dog meat sales to lure people into downloading a malicious mobile app. The police received 11 reports from apparent victims claiming to have lost over HK$1.36 million in total.
According to police data, fraud-related crime in Hong Kong has shot up since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020. Provisional figures of fraud-related crime from January to September this year exceed whole-year figures in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, there were 27,923 cases, a record high.
Tang had previously attributed a rise in overall crime to a 52.2 per cent year-on-year spike in fraud-related offences.
