Impersonation scams tarnish mobile carriers' reputation

Several months ago, I wrote in China Daily about the need to fight unwanted marketing or fraudulent messages on the cellphone. The irony was that despite my vigilance, I almost fell prey to a nationwide phone fraud.

It happened when I received a reminder from China Mobile that my reward points were about to expire and I could click on the attached Web link to convert them into hundreds of yuan in cash.

At any point, I have thousands of accumulated points that I often use to top up my mobile data, which I consider another marketing gimmick from carriers to generate more usage.