Ministry of Information and Communications and network operators use identifiers to prevent impersonation calls
From October 27, all phone numbers of units under the Ministry of Information and Communications calling people will display the identifier 'BO TTTT'. Similarly, calls from telecommunications enterprises to customers will also display the identifier of the network operator.
According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, recently, some subjects have used fake landline and mobile phone numbers, claiming to be from the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Police, the Procuracy, Banks, telecommunications networks, etc. to call people's landline and mobile phone numbers.
The purpose of these subjects is to collect information to intimidate and defraud people, thereby appropriating their property. This phenomenon is on the rise and becoming more and more complicated, causing public outrage and affecting the activities of many agencies, organizations and individuals.
To prevent fraud through impersonation calls, the leaders of the Ministry of Information and Communications have directed the Department of Telecommunications to deploy the provision of identification names (Voice brandname) for telephone numbers which are hotline numbers of units under the Ministry of Information and Communications; at the same time, provision of identification names for mobile and fixed telecommunications networks such as VNPT, Viettel, MobiFone, FPT... This solution is also assessed to help people raise their vigilance against the methods and tricks that subjects often use to commit fraud.
In the newly released information, the Ministry of Information and Communications said that from October 27, 2023, all phone numbers calling people from units under the Ministry including the Ministry Office, the Press Department, the Information Security Department, the Telecommunications Department, and the Radio Frequency Department will display the identifier "BO TTTT". This has been completed by units under the Ministry of Information and Communications since October 20.
Also from October 27, the phone numbers of telecommunications enterprises when calling customers using the service will also display the network operator's identifier. For example, the identifier VNPT, VinaPhone of VinaPhone network, VIETTELCSKH of Viettel network, FPT SHOP of FPT network, or LOCAL of ASIM network)...
Along with widely announcing the use of identifiers by the Ministry of Information and Communications and network operators for phone numbers that interact with people, the Ministry of Information and Communications also stated: Phone numbers calling people that claim to be units under the Ministry or telecommunications enterprises, but do not display the identifier, are all fake phone numbers, showing signs of fraud.
When receiving calls from fake phone numbers, people need to report to the numbers receiving reports on spam calls and calls with signs of fraud of the Ministry of Information and Communications, which are 156, 5656, or report to the telecommunications business managing their subscribers to request handling.
“Impersonating police, prosecutors, and courts to make fraudulent phone calls” and “SIM lock scams due to unstandardized subscribers” are two of 24 common forms of fraud in Vietnam’s cyberspace, according to a summary by the Department of Information Security, Ministry of Information and Communications.
In the campaign "Action Month to propagate and identify online fraud" launched by the Ministry of Information and Communications in mid-June 2023, with the aim of raising public awareness through common online fraud situations, the Department of Information Security also provided instructions on signs to identify 24 common forms of fraud. At the same time, it provided a handbook of knowledge to prevent and protect yourself and your family in cyberspace.
However, the situation of online fraud is still complicated, requiring more fundamental and drastic solutions in the fight against online fraud. Weekly updated data from the Information Security Department shows that each week, the canhbao.khonggianmang.vn system operated by the National Cyber Security Monitoring Center still receives about 300 reports from Vietnamese Internet users about fraud cases. Of which, the most are cases of impersonating banks, competent authorities, e-commerce platforms...
