THE Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently launched online services for people to check phone numbers registered under their names to stop instances of caller ID spoofing, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

The services can be accessed via four channels, including WeChat accounts of 企业营业厅 (Enterprise Service Hall), 工信部反诈专班 (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Anti-spoofing Task Force), and 工信微报 (Industry and Information Technology Tabloid), as well as an Alipay miniprogram.

Caller ID spoofing is the process of changing the caller ID to any number other than the actual calling number. It is also the practice of falsifying incoming call information and is one of the methods used in phone scams.

Private information leak is one of the major causes of caller ID spoofs. In one case, a man surnamed Pan from Guanlan, Longhua District discovered his name was associated with more than 10 phone cards with unpaid bills.

In January 2018, another Shenzhen resident surname Zhou discovered 19 unrecognized phone numbers registered under his name.

People who get targeted for caller ID spoofing also include those who have forgotten to close their phone accounts upon moving to other cities, changing jobs or switching telecom carriers, the News report said.

The services launched by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology can now help stop caller ID spoofing.

(Xia Yuanjie)