SMS registration scheme coming to help fight fraud
Hongkongers will soon be able to spot whether an SMS purportedly sent by their telecommunications service provider is genuine or not thanks to a new verification scheme from the Communications Authority. Legitimate text messages will be recognisable thanks to a # sign proceeding the sender's ID.  Telecom networks will block any SMS that contains a # sign in the ID if the sender is not a verified entity. The authority says around two dozen telecommunications firms have signed up for the SMS Sender Registration Scheme, which will be launched on December 28. The authority plans to expand the scheme to other sectors, with the banking industry expected to join in the first quarter of next year. The honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, Francis Fong, welcomed the initiative, saying it will be useful in combating fraud. Fong said allowing telecom service providers to be the first to register enables the authorities to assess the effectiveness of the scheme, as most fraudulent SMS messages originate from scammers posing as such operators. "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," he said.