Letters | Good call on real names for all Hong Kong mobile phone numbers

Name: Chinese students in Australia targeted in ‘virtual kidnapping’ scams, police say
Uploaded: 2021-03-04T23:00:14.000Z
Duration: 1 min 39 s
Description: Chinese students in Australia targeted in ‘virtual kidnapping’ scams, police say

Over 70 per cent of serious crimes linked to local SIM cards involved the use of anonymous prepaid ones, and for phone scams their share was 90 per cent

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Prepaid SIM cards displayed at a stall in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee

Letters

Published: 7:00am, 5 Mar 2021Updated: 7:00am, 5 Mar 2021

This is in response to your report titled “Authorities propose SIM card database” (January 29). I am in favour of mandatory real-name registration for all mobile phone connections in Hong Kong, as suggested by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.

First of all, there are many criminals who exploit the vulnerabilities of the current system of pay-as-you-go SIM cards, including using their anonymous nature to commit serious crimes. This is especially significant in view of the high number of phone scams in the city in recent years that have hurt the mental and financial health of victims.

Official data shows that over 70 per cent of serious crimes linked to local SIM cards involved the use of anonymous prepaid ones. For phone scams, their share was 90 per cent.

Having mobile phone users register their numbers under real identities with ID papers, as per the proposed overhaul of SIM card rules, would go a long way towards preventing such crimes or at least helping law enforcers to identify and track down the perpetrators. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to fight such crimes as technology keeps improving.

Of nearly 21 million mobile subscriptions in Hong Kong, only users of service plans need to disclose real personal information. The remaining 11.7 million are anonymous prepaid SIM cards.

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Chinese students in Australia targeted in ‘virtual kidnapping’ scams, police say

Some people such as SIM card sellers oppose the approach, fearing a drop in business or even job loss. But I don’t think the impact on business would be that large. Other countries, for instance, require visitors to register with their ID cards or passports in order to buy a prepaid SIM card. Some phone users also fear that their privacy will be compromised. However, the need to reduce crime should take precedence over other concerns.