Reader’s Letter: SMS Scam

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Letter from Wong:

I just found out that I’ve been charged RM3 daily for the past three months for a mobile “quiz” service by 36181. I checked with my telco (DiGi) and I was told that I sent ‘on iq’ to 36181 which I didn’t. That means I’ve lost around RM300 for a service I didn’t subscribe to.

After checking the issue online (the link provided above) I found out that I might only be one of plenty of mobile phone users who are affected by this. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that this is clearly a scam. One example of the message I received (today, in fact) is: “IQ: Onions help reduce cholesterol if eaten after a fatty meal.“
And users get charged RM3 for a message like that. This is completely ridiculous. It’s not a song/picture/video or a piece of news. It just doesn’t make sense that anybody would pay RM3 for something like that, they’re clearly exploiting mobile phone users, hoping that they didn’t notice their phone bills.

After contacting DiGi, I found out they are very reluctant to take any action about the service provider and I can’t help but wonder if this has something to do with the fact that the telco company earns a percentage from the service provider’s charge as well. I’ve contacted MCMC and is waiting for their reply.

I know this might have little to do with your blog, but I’m sure I’m only one of plenty of other mobile phone users affected by this. I get a feeling that the telcos aren’t doing much about this problem because they’re making loads of money from scams like this as well. Seems to me like DiGi’s anti-spam system is rather poor as well. Hope you’ll look into this matter in your blog and at least post something to get people informed of this scam.

Thanks in advance.

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  • Eva

    my phone credit deducted RM 8 today. and i contacted DIGI to ask about this. they were reluctant at first but said that i subscribed to a service which had deducted my credit for their services.
    i demanded to know what service it was and how to contact them
    they said it was sy system software? and the number was 36181
    so i sent a STOP ALL text to them.
    i was curious about this because i dont subscribe to any service using my mobile phone.
    when i run a search on the internet, i came across THIS article and lots n lots of other articles on this EXACT same thing.
    and guess what??? we all USE DIGI lines and the sms spoofing was done by 36181
    i’m really determined to get to the root of this problem
    i am not sure if
    a) DIGI has something to do with this??
    b) DIGI just doesnt give a damn about its customers! and its services are as bad as everyone thinks it it

    very frustrated. and worried about future deductions

    Eva

  • Samer Helmy

    Dear all,

    We should do something about this. I just found 80 RM charged for 10 silly messages that my son received about nothing on our family line. It is by this 36181 service. The mobile companies are obviously enjoying the scam and we need to do more than just reporting it. What can be done?