The Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) in a statement today said that false registration of prepaid SIM cards is on the rise. In 2015, CFM received 89 such complaints, an alarming increase of 187.1% from 31 complaints recorded in 2014.
In this regard, CFM urges all consumers in Malaysia to take necessary steps to prevent their personal information such as copy of identity cards and personal details from being shared easily by unauthorized parties to register for a new prepaid account without their consent.
Consumers are asked to be more careful when giving out personal information such as identification details for any transaction. CFM said there is no need for service providers or their sales representatives (such as dealers) to make any copies of the subscribers’ MyKad during registration as the service providers’ obligation is only to verify the identification information provided by the consumers.
Malaysian consumers are also advised to read the terms and conditions including the fine print before signing any documentation and to request a copy of the signed documents for future reference.
“Over the past decade, prepaid card services have provided an affordable platform to connect with your friends and family through voice calls and the short message service (SMS). The availability of the prepaid cards is so widespread that they are sold in petrol stations, newsstands, malls, convenience stores and more across Malaysia. However, as the demand of mobile prepaid services increases, some agents and dealers are using consumers personal information to register fake accounts for sale to their other customers, especially illegal foreigners,” said Megat Ishak Maamunor Rashid, Chairman of CFM.
He added that CFM’s Complaints and Compliance Management Department is working closely with the various Services Providers to ensure all cases that were reported through the CFM Complaints Portal, www.complaint.cfm.org.my and email to [email protected] will be solved in a fair and timely manner as per mandated in the General Consumer Code of Practice for the Communications and Multimedia Industry Malaysia (GCC).
In 2015, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has issued a total of 50 compounds amounting to RM2.29 million to Telecommunications Service Providers for the breaches related to false registration of prepaid SIM cards. As of Quarter 1 this year, Digi, Tune Talk, Merchantrade and XOX received several compounds for the same offense.
- Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd: RM200,000 (4 compounds)
- Tune Talk Sdn Bhd: RM100,000 (2 compounds)
- Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd: RM100,000 (2 compounds)
- XOX Com Sdn Bhd: RM50,000 (1 compound)
Hence, the telecommunications companies need to take appropriate action to affirm that they will take the necessary action to verify the information provided by potential subscribers against the information contained in their MyKad or other official identification documents, such as passports, CFM said.
