Telecommunication News
- Guangdong News
Date: 18-May-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA TieTong's Shenzhen company is to stop issuing its all-in-one virtual telephone numbers and vet users who applied using false documents, after online scams related to the service were exposed.
From January to April this year, Shenzhen police had cracked 1,645 online scams, and most of the cheats had used the all-in-one numbers on false Web sites to con people out of money.
The all-in-one virtual numbers, beginning 0755, the same as Shenzhen's dialing code, could easily be mistaken as fixed-line telephone numbers in the city and were being taken advantage of by fraudsters who set up false Web site claiming to be Shenzhen-based retailers.
A virtual number allows people to combine their mobile and fixed-line numbers into one number where they can be reached at anytime, anywhere.
Callers with the virtual numbers beginning 0755 were found to be tricking people into believing they were calling from Shenzhen as legitimate city business people - with police unable to trace the calls' source.
Mayor Xu Zongheng has ordered related departments to tackle the crimes 'relentlessly.'
Shenzhen police said 82 crooks across the country had used the service in online scams, and 80 percent of them used Shenzhen TieTong Co's service.
At a meeting Tuesday, TieTong said it was impossible to cancel the service, which now has 3,000 users in Shenzhen, but agreed to stop issuing new numbers and vet applicants suspected of using false documents.
TieTong started to offer these virtual numbers in 2004, allowing users to apply anonymously for the service. The company was forced to implement a real name registration system last year after fraudulent activities were uncovered.
TieTong reminds telecom users to stay alert when receiving short messages asking them to provide bank account details, passwords or ID numbers.
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