PETALING JAYA, Aug 20 - Telcos clarify claims that a large number of phone lines have been registered under individual identities and could be misused for online scams, Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said.
He said his ministry would summon telcos concerned, and wants their chief executive officers to provide an explanation by the end of the day.
“If this is true, then the telcos concerned will have some explaining to do. I will call them in and ask them to meet me and provide a full explanation.
“I want the CEOs of the telcos concerned to provide an explanation by the end of today,” he said when launching the National Anti-Scam Awareness Programme here today.
Fahmi said the government has introduced several measures, including requiring MyDigital ID verification to register prepaid lines, as phone numbers have been misused for illegal purposes.
Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan, who was also present at the launch, claimed some telcos allow between 20 and 50 telephone lines to be registered under a single name, raising concerns that the lines could be misused.
He said the companies must be held accountable for the misuse of registered lines, which could result in consumers falling victim to scams.
Nadzim said PPIM received a report of a 70-year-old man who had only one telephone line but discovered that 18 lines had been registered in his name, as well as another case in which as many as 400 lines were registered to a single identity.
“If a telco allows 20 or 50 lines to be registered under one name without any problem, this cannot be allowed to continue because ultimately, it is the consumers who bear the consequences,” he said.
