The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) reminds members of the public to stay alert to fraudulent calls and scam emails on different matters purporting to be made or sent by the Communications Authority (CA) or OFCA.
Fraudulent Calls Relating to Real-name Registration for SIM-Cards
OFCA has recently received reports from members of the public on fraudulent calls purporting to be made by the CA or OFCA in relation to real-name registration for SIM-cards. The calls were made in the form of pre-recorded message or by a real person claiming that the recipients had failed to complete real-name registrations for their SIM-cards, and hence their mobile services would be suspended unless they provided personal information for the callers to complete the real-name registration for them.
OFCA clarifies that the CA and OFCA have never made and will not make such phone calls. Members of the public should disregard these calls, and under no circumstances should they disclose their personal information to the callers. They may report cases of suspected phone scam to the Police.
Other Fraudulent Phone Calls and Scam Emails Purporting to be Made or Sent by the CA or OFCA
Apart from fraudulent phone calls in relation to real-name registration for SIM cards, from time to time, OFCA also receives reports from members of the public on other kinds of fraudulent calls purporting to be made by the CA or OFCA. There are also reports of scam emails pretending to be sent by OFCA, inviting recipients to provide quotations for different kinds of goods/services.
The contents of these phone calls and emails may in general consist of the following elements:
Fraudulent Calls
- pre-recorded messages in either Cantonese, English or Putonghua, or most of the callers alleged that the recipients' telephone services would be suspended because of overdue charges or there are anomalies with the called parties' telephone service, or alleging that the called parties' telephone numbers have been used in illegal activities (including breaching the National Security Law) or sending of mass text messages etc.;
- some of the callers may be able to cite the called parties' personal information, such as their full Chinese name, identity card number and date of birth;
- some of the callers may impersonate an OFCA employee, and may even ask the called parties to visit OFCA's office for verification;
- some of these calls may use false caller number display, such as +852 2961 6333, or other Hong Kong telephone numbers. Members of the public should beware of calling numbers with a "+" sign as a prefix displayed on mobile phones, which indicates that the calls originate from outside Hong Kong even though the calling numbers may be masqueraded as Hong Kong phone numbers by displaying Hong Kong’s area code "852" and OFCA's hotline number;
- some of the callers may instruct the called parties to press a designated numeric key (e.g. "1", "8" or "9") for further enquiries, or ask for personal information, bank account information, passwords, etc. of the called parties.
Scam Emails
- the emails may be sent in the name of OFCA with fake email addresses such as "procurement@ofca-govhk.com" or "purchasing@ofca-govhk.com". This is to confuse recipients with OFCA's official domain name which is "ofca.gov.hk";
- the emails may claim that OFCA is procuring various kinds of goods/services, and invite individual recipients to submit quotations or send samples;
- the emails may contain a genuine fax number of OFCA to mislead the recipients;
- some of the emails may even contain malicious hyperlinks purported to give additional information about the quotation being sought.
Notwithstanding the contents of the calls and emails, we wish to stress that the CA and OFCA have never originated and will not originate such calls or such emails. In case of receiving them, you are advised not to answer these calls or give replies to these emails at the first place. Under no circumstances should you disclose your personal information to strangers during telephone conversations or in emails, or provide them with money or goods/services at their request. Please do not click on hyperlinks embedded in suspicious emails as well.
We also urge you to stay alert and report any suspected fraudulent calls or scam emails to the Police (https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/contact_us.html#e_form).
You may also seek assistance from the instant telephone anti-deception consultation service provided by the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) of the Police at https://www.adcc.gov.hk/en-hk/home.php or calling the Anti-Scam Helpline at 18222.
If you have any questions regarding your telecommunications services plans, you should contact your telecommunications operators direct.
