Recently, many mobile users have reported that their personal information is registered under many strange phone numbers. This has caused confusion and they do not know how to handle it because the network operators have not yet provided specific instructions.

Sharing about this issue, at the April press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Deputy Director of the Department of Telecommunications (Ministry of Information and Communications) Nguyen Phong Nha said that to handle the situation of junk SIMs, junk messages, and junk calls, the Ministry of Information and Communications has developed a tool to help users look up how many SIMs they own.

Recently, the leaders of the Ministry of Information and Communications have directed the Telecommunications Department to coordinate with network operators to change the text message syntax to check subscriber information via the number 1414. Accordingly, with the new syntax, to look up information about the number of SIMs owned, subscribers will have to provide their citizen identification number. This is to ensure the confidentiality of subscriber information for users.

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Deputy Director of the Department of Telecommunications Nguyen Phong Nha. Photo: Chi Hieu

Statistics show that network operators have received 6 million text messages to the 1414 hotline, along with documents to check subscriber information. Up to now, mobile users have gradually become familiar with the new lookup syntax.

During the period from March 1 to March 31, 2024, the Department of Telecommunications recorded about 1.62 million documents, corresponding to 7.9 million SIMs belonging to the subscriber group with 4 to 9 SIMs.

To date, about 1,200 subscribers have reported to telecommunications companies, questioning the strange SIM numbers they own. Since then, the network operators have removed the subscriber numbers from the list that customers reported, and carried out one-way and two-way blocking procedures for subscribers with incorrect names and documents.

“ As a result, about 200 subscriber numbers were locked, which shows that network operators have actively participated in the process of standardizing subscriber information ,” said Deputy Director Nguyen Phong Nha.

Currently, network operators have built a strict and clear process to help users find information. Mobile users can also request to remove their information from incorrect subscriptions. This helps ensure rights, avoiding the wrong blocking of the main subscriptions that users are using.

Junk SIMs with numbers starting with 093, 094, 097 call impersonating provincial leaders . After calling impersonating provincial leaders, bad guys also provide impersonating authorities' numbers, asking people and businesses to transfer money.