HK fights SMS scams with sender registrations

Hong Kong's telecom regulator, the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA), is set to launch the SMS Sender Registration Scheme on Thursday, December 28, to combat fraudulent messages and scams by helping consumers verify the identity of senders.

The OFCA said senders will use registered SMS IDs with the prefix "#" to send text messages to local subscribers of mobile services. The scheme will be first adopted by the telecoms sector, with 23 major mobile operators already signed up to participate.

"The scheme aims at helping members of the public identify registered SMS senders to stop fraudsters from sending scam SMS messages masquerading as other companies or organizations," said an OFCA spokesperson in a statement.

He added that telecom operators in Hong Kong will block messages containing the prefix "#" but not sent by registered senders.

However, the scheme does not cover text messages sent through mobile apps like WhatsApp and WeChat, which are not controlled by the telecom sector.

Mobile subscribers are not required to apply for the service, install any mobile apps or change their handset settings.

A four-month transition period

The Hong Kong telecom regulator gives a four-month transition period before the scheme goes into full operation to give operators time to tweak their SMS sending platforms. During this period, OFCA expects some technical problems that may prevent people from receiving #-prefixed messages sent by registered operators.

The OFCA will closely monitor the implementation of the scheme and will discuss with other government departments to encourage more sectors that use SMS to communicate with customers to participate in the scheme.

The banking industry is expected to join in the first quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, Francis Fong, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said that allowing telecom service providers to be the first to register enables the authorities to assess the effectiveness of the scheme. The majority of scammers in the city usually pose as telecom operators when sending fraudulent text messages.

"Since the majority of the [legitimate] SMS are sent by the operators, I think it is a very good test platform. So, the operators test how effective this system will be, and then it will spread into the banking sector or the government bodies," Fong told local media.