The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) today (14 August 2017) reminded members of the public to stay alert to suspected fraudulent calls with pre-recorded messages purporting to be made by OFCA.
A spokesperson for OFCA said, “OFCA received reports from members of the public today on their receipt of suspected fraudulent calls purporting to be made by OFCA with pre-recorded messages, both in Cantonese and Putonghua, claiming that the called party had contravened the Telecommunications Ordinance or that there were anomalies with the called party’s telephone service. The called party was then instructed to press ‘8’ for further enquiry, otherwise his/her telephone service would be terminated.”
According to the reports, the calling number display showed a “+” sign prefixed to the calling numbers of the fraudulent messages.
“We wish to stress that OFCA has never made the above phone calls and would not make any phone calls with pre-recorded messages. In particular, members of the public should be aware that calling numbers with a ‘+’ sign as a prefix displayed on mobile phones indicate that the calls originate from outside Hong Kong even though the calling numbers may be masqueraded as Hong Kong phone numbers,” the spokesperson said.
“We urge members of the public to stay alert and report any suspected fraudulent calls to the Police, irrespective of whether a ‘+’ sign is displayed as a prefix to the calling numbers. If they have any questions regarding the status of their telecommunications services, they should contact their telecommunications operators for details direct, and under no circumstances should they disclose their personal information over the phone,” the spokesperson added.
Office of the Communications Authority
14 August 2017