If you’ve recently been getting paid SMS promos that you didn’t sign up for sent to your phone, this may be the reason why. The Star reports that staff from a few telecommunications companies are now under investigation for allegedly taking bribes to reveal customers’ private data.
Sources to the local paper say that a syndicate may have bribed telco staff into providing them with customer data. Using said data, the syndicate then sends paid SMS promotions to mobile phone users around the country. Each SMS will cost the user between 50 sen and RM4. The syndicate is also said to be targeting prepaid users as there’s no bill to reflect these egregious charges.
At the same time, the syndicate is also believed to be claiming service charges from telcos. In other words, the victims of the syndicate are both the telcos and their customers. The syndicate is believed to have been operating for the past five years, with profits in the millions of ringgit.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki has confirmed that the case was being investigated. Among those arrested include a company director and his technical staff. The telco staff arrested were aged between 38 and 44.
(Source: The Star)
