SMS content providers are abusing this wonderful mode of communication. SMS spams are deluging mobile phone subscribers.
There are too many offers of ringtones, music and other services which are often not required and which consumers have to tolerate. To stop receiving these unwanted SMSes one has to call and inform the service provider, whereby the subscriber would be charged. Why must a subscriber be charged for declining a service he doesn’t require?
The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has been receiving many complaints of SMS scams. One complainant received an SMS saying that he had been selected as the recipient of a RM20,000 prize. He had to dial a certain Indonesian phone number.
To claim his prize money he was asked to deposit RM2,000 in a certain bank account, as bank processing fee.
When this was reported to the telco, the telco claimed that they had acted on this and had already informed the police.
The question is, how did all these content providers get the handphone number of subscribers? This basically is identity theft. Is it not the responsibility of the telcos to protect the identity of subscribers?
CAP calls on the Malaysian Communication & Multimedia Commission to investigate these abuses by content providers and take serious action on identity theft of various kinds.
S.M. MOHAMED IDRIS,
President,
Consumers Association of Penang
