"The Communications and Information Technology Commission" Requires Service Providers to Adopt Effective Mechanisms and Take Regulatory Action Against Fraud

The Communications and Information Technology Commission has required mobile telecommunications service providers in the Kingdom to establish effective mechanisms to curb fraudulent messages reaching users via SMS, which falsely claim to be from a local bank or inform the user that they have won fake prizes.

Dr. Mohammed bin Saud Al-Tamimi, Deputy Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission for Regulatory Affairs and Competition, revealed that the Commission had required service providers to establish an effective mechanism to curb this phenomenon, including applying smart filtering to reduce the delivery of such messages to telecom service users, and creating a shared database among service providers for these numbers.

Al-Tamimi noted that, since the activation of the dedicated number for receiving user reports of fraudulent messages, the Commission has received nearly one million reports about these messages, and has addressed them by tracking down and blocking these numbers in coordination with all relevant parties, stressing that the Commission is continuing its efforts to contain and eliminate this phenomenon.

Al-Tamimi added that the Commission has, in this regard, formed a team bringing together the Commission, mobile telecommunications service providers, and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, to develop mechanisms that help curb the spread of these messages.

The Commission had previously called on all mobile telecommunications service users not to respond to such unidentified messages received via SMS, and urged users to report these messages through the free "Report Fraudulent Messages" service by forwarding the text message received to the number (330330), which would enable relevant authorities to take regulatory action, disconnect service from numbers proven to be used in fraud operations, and coordinate with relevant authorities to complete the arrest of perpetrators of such crimes and take the necessary measures.

The Commission stated that it will continue working with its partners across all relevant entities to contain and eliminate this phenomenon, and working intensively with mobile telecommunications service providers on awareness efforts in this regard, in order to ensure users are aware not to respond to such messages and to report them, reduce the impact of these fraud attempts, and warn users against engaging with them.