CA organises fun day cum exhibition to promote awareness of phone scams (with photos)

The following is issued on behalf of the Communications Authority:

     To raise public vigilance and awareness of telecommunications scams, the Communications Authority (CA) is organising the large-scale "Say NO to Phone Scams" Fun Day cum Exhibition in Kowloon Park today and tomorrow (November 23 and 24), with a view to promoting awareness against phone and SMS scams.

     The Fun Day cum Exhibition is one of the major events of the annual consumer education campaign organised by the CA. Through interactive activities including game booths, quiz games with prizes and workshops for families, as well as exhibition panels and consumer education videos, it aims to raise public awareness against phone and SMS scams, and promote consumer tips on the smart use of various communications services.

     In addition, the CA has earlier organised the "Beware of Phone and SMS Scam Poster and Slogan Design Competition" for primary school students. The prize presentation ceremony for the Competition was held during today's event.

     Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, the Director-General of Communications, Mr Chaucer Leung, said, "Given the prevalence of phone scam cases in recent years and in order to remind the public to stay vigilant against fraudsters, the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA), together with telecommunications service providers and the Police, have set up a working group to co-ordinate among the telecommunications industry to devise and implement various technical measures, including adding the '+' sign to the caller number for calls originated from outside Hong Kong, sending voice or text alerts for incoming calls with caller number prefixed with '+852', and blocking suspicious local or overseas calls. Telecommunications service providers also block suspicious phone numbers and websites involving scam cases based on the information provided by the Police. Moreover, OFCA has also introduced the SMS Sender Registration Scheme since the end of last year to help the public verify the identities of SMS message senders.

     "To enhance public awareness against frauds, OFCA also actively organises various public education and publicity activities to promote anti-scam messages in a holistic manner. The Poster and Slogan Design Competition aims at reminding students and parents to always stay highly vigilant against unknown phone calls and SMS messages. I am delighted to see that the Competition has attracted an overwhelming response. The entries are not only rich in content but also thoughtful in design with excellent painting skills, which fully demonstrate the students' understanding of the themes and their earnest attitude towards creation," Mr Leung added.

     Mr Leung urged members of the public to say "NO" to phone scams and not to disclose to unidentified callers or SMS message senders any personal information, bank account numbers or credit card details or transfer money, to avoid suffering from losses.

     The Competition received over 2 900 entries from a total of 113 schools. The judging panel selected the champion, first runner-up, second runner-up and 10 merit awards based on the criteria of the expression of theme, creativity of slogan, creativity of design and artistic presentation. The top three schools with the largest number of submissions also won the outstanding participating school award. The list of winners of the Competition has been uploaded to its thematic website.

     The Fun Day cum Exhibition will continue tomorrow and members of the public are welcome to join. For details of the event, please visit www.ofca.gov.hk/education.