According to the Beijing branch of China Unionpay, a national
bankcard information exchange network, it received thousands of
inquiries from worried credit card holders about their accounts
during the National Day holiday, China Daily reported
today.
Worries of high-tech fraud were raised after people received SMS
messages on their mobile phones that resulted in requests for
information about credit card numbers and passwords.
One Beijing resident named Wang got a message that claimed he
had bought items with his credit card that totaled more than 18,000
yuan (US$2,200), though he said he had not used the card.
Anxious, he dialed the number in the message and he was asked to
leave his card details for further identification. Later, he found
more than 150,000 yuan (US$18,500) had been spent on his card, and
when he redialed the number there was no response.
China has more than 370 million mobile phone users, and hundreds
of millions of SMS or text messages are sent every day, making it a
profitable service.
But subscribers are frequently inundated with unsolicited
messages offering anything from sexual services to cheap airline
tickets, though there is no official data on the extent of the
problem.
"Sending messages with pornographic or false content violates
regulations, pollutes society and spreads a very bad influence,"
China Daily quoted a Ministry of Information Industry
official as saying.
Lu from the ministry's Telecom Institute told the paper that the
telecom industry regulator needs to expand its oversight of telecom
operators and service providers.
The ministry launched a campaign to check telecom operators and
service providers early this month, reinforcing the management of
access to mobile networks, though the length and precise nature of
the initiative were not reported.
(China Daily October 12, 2005)