Via the Beijing Municipal Department of Industry and Commerce and the Beijing Consumers' Association, Beijing Telecom has issued a warning to consumers about a scam in the capital.

Door-to-door salesmen have been luring consumers into pre-paying for their Beijing Telecom phone service. The salesmen say they represent the "17901 Prepayment Service" and offer discounts to consumers who want to pay in advance for phone usage.

In reports to the media, Beijing Telecom says that it "has never initiated the 17901 Prepayment Service nor authorized any other enterprise or individual to implement the service".

Neither the Consumers' Association or Beijing Telecom state the exact number of complaints received about this ongoing problem, but they do say they have received "many reports" from angry consumers.