Telcos to block SMS containing phone numbers and personal details from July 2

As with the prior restriction on URLs, blocked messages will not incur any charges. — Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash

PETALING JAYA: Several Malaysian telecommunication providers will be blocking the ability to send and receive phone numbers along with other personal particulars, including banking details and IC numbers, via short message service (SMS) from July 2.

This comes after the block on URLs being sent through SMS was put in place on May 2.

Telcos confirmed to be implementing the block include Maxis, CelcomDigi, and U Mobile. As with the prior restriction on URLs, blocked messages will not incur any charges.

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According to the Digi FAQ page, this directive applies to both local and international messages.

It is also worth noting that SMS from businesses using legitimate Enterprise short codes will still be allowed to include URLs, phone numbers, and personal details that would normally be restricted.

Both Celcom and Digi have included a list of its short codes one their respective websites, while Maxis have stated that its Enterprise SMS short codes follow five digit patterns such as 6XXXX, 2XXXX and 1XXXX.

Maxis has however said via its FAQ page that URLs would be blocked on its Enterprise SMS service in phases, with notifications to specific affected business users being issued at such a time.

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The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission issued a directive on the blocking URLs, phone numbers and other personal details back in February, citing that online fraud that had utilised SMS as part of its modus operandi.

While the directive was not mandatory, telcos had started to impose the block later in May.