Telcos in Malaysia will soon ban SMS messages with personal information, as part of the MCMC’s initiative to prevent scams! Here is what you need to know!
Malaysia To Ban SMS With Personal Details!
On Sunday, 2 July 2023, four Malaysian telcos – Maxis, Celcom, Digital and U Mobile will ban SMS messages containing personal information , as part of the MCMC’s initiative to prevent scams.
In addition to the May ban of SMS links, both local and international users will be prevented from sending any SMS message containing:
- personal details
- mobile or fixed line phone number
- banking details like account number
- MyKad number
All SMS messages containing these forbidden items will not be blocked, but their senders won’t be charged for those blocked messages.
Read more : Malaysian Telcos Ban SMS Links To Prevent Scams!
No Ban For SMS With Personal Details Via Short Codes
It should be noted that this ban on SMS messages with personal details do NOT apply to businesses using legitimate Enterprise short codes. They will still be allowed to issue SMS messages with URLs (links), phone numbers, and personal details.
Here are the current Enterprise short codes for Celcom and DIGI, from which you “may” continue to receive SMS messages with hyperlinks (URLs) and personal information.
| Telco | Enterprise Short Codes |
| Celcom | CelcomDigi / EASYRELOAD Celcom / CELCOM 2000 / 2901 / 20000 / 78888 28888 / 28882 / 22288 / 28282 / 22888 2001 / 22002 / 22009 / 21888 / 22022 / 22033 / 22162 / 22244 / 22262 / 22990 / 23000 / 23222 / 23777 / 25000 / 25555 / 26664 / 26668 / 26674 / 26680 / 26699 / 27100 / 27200 / 27999 / 28000 / 29888 / 29992 / 29999 / 39131 / 39140 / 39146 / 39170 / 39172 / 39230 / 39231 / 39240 / 39254 / 39258 / 39281 / 39291 / 39442 / 39466 / 39470 / 39471 / 39496 / 39504 / 39505 / 39506 / 39509 / 39513 / 39514 / 39515 / 39518 / 39881 / 39437 / 39132 / 39133 / 39144 / 39162 / 39177 / 39498 / 39502 / 39511 / 39512 / 39495 |
| Digi | CelcomDigi / Digi / DigiRewards 200 / 2901 / 2691 / 5001 / 27676 20000 / 21000 / 28879 / 28888 / 28882 / 22288 / 28282 / 22888 |
Maxis has 5-digit short codes like 1XXXX, 2XXXX, and 6XXXX, but has chosen to block SMS messages containing personal information from their Enterprise short codes:
In order to prevent individuals from becoming online scam scams, the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has issued a directive to all telcos on 14 February 2023 to block sending and receiving of short messaging service (SMS) from local, international mobile numbers and applications containing below contents:
- URL link and any clickable link e.g. shorten URL; shorten URL;
- Request for user’s personal information e.g name, IC number, account number and
- Mobile and fixed line number
Blockings are being implemented in stages; started from 2 May 2023 for SMS between individuals; the next and last stage is the blocking of SMS containing the above 3 elements from mobile and applications such as Enterprise SMS service and Maxis IoT SIM from 2 July 2023.
Recommended : Scam Alert : Watch Out For Telegram Phishing Attack!
Risky SMS Ban Helpful, But Other Platforms Still A Risk
While this measure is really helpful in reducing scams, the ban is limited to SMS messages. It does not prevent scammers from sending similar scam messages through instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, etc.
I should also point out that links are not inherently bad. Links in messages, even SMS messages, are mostly safe.
Perfectly Fine
- Clicking on a link to read an article / terms and conditions of a promotion
- Clicking on a link to enrol in a promotion which does not require you to log into any website
- Clicking on a link to check in for a flight, or get a travel update
However, they can be used to send you to a phishing website which is designed to look like a genuine bank / payment website. Hence, it is critical that you should NEVER log into any website through a link.
NEVER DO THIS
- Clicking on a link to log into a bank website
- Clicking on a link to make a purchase or payment
- Clicking on a link to log into any account / email
Phishing attacks work by tricking you into going into a fake website that looks like the real website. But you still have to log into the fake website to give the scammers your login details.
If you click on a link, and you are asked to login – this is likely a phishing attack. But don’t worry – as long as you refuse to log into any website after clicking on a link, the phishing attack fails.
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