The Vietnamese government has introduced a new policy aimed at tackling spam, which requires mobile phone subscribers to provide personal information that matches official national database records.
Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the termination of services. Almost two million mobile phone subscribers are at risk of being disconnected due to non-compliance.
The move aims to prevent SIM cards from being used inappropriately. Of the 127 million mobile phones in use in Vietnam, 96% are connected to three mobile operators: Vinaphone, Viettel, and MobiFone. The Ministry of Information and Communication has reported that a large number of mobile subscribers have more than one SIM card or rarely use the SIM cards they have bought and have not received notifications from the mobile carriers about the information update.
Telecom providers have sent notifications to remind unregistered users to update their information, and those that did not respond became unable to receive calls for 15 days. Thirty days after that, contracts of those who have not complied will be terminated.
According to government official Pham Duc Long, telecom companies reportedly requested a deadline extension, but were denied. “Extending the deadline would make phone number owners procrastinate,” he said.
Kaspersky’s Securelist revealed that Vietnam was a leader in phishing scams, being the country of origin for 17% of phishing scams detected in 2022. Cybersecurity firm Group-IB also discovered large-scale online scams emanating from Vietnam last summer. These scams impersonated 27 organizations, including banks, and accrued 7,800 victims, partly by using SMS.
The Philippines is another Southeast Asian country that is working to secure fixed identity to a mobile number to curb scams. The government is in the midst of a similar drive to tie actual identity documents to SIM cards. However, as of mid-March, only 25% of the 165 million-plus SIMS needing registration in the Philippines were compliant. The deadline for registration is April 26.
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Source: Vietnam Insider