‘CALLS A SCARE TACTIC’
They are made to intimidate GE14 candidates, says IT consultant
“HELLO!” That was the only response offered by a man who answered a phone call placed by a reporter, who was aiming to trace the flurry of spam calls received by several political leaders, including candidates for the 14th General Election.
However, as soon as the reporter began asking why the calls were made, the person terminated the call.
On Tuesday night, political leaders from the government and the opposition were subjected to a barrage of phone calls with numbers from the United States and the United Kingdom.
This is believed to have been an attempt to disrupt communications, especially involving security personnel during GE14.
Among the numbers registered were +150768166481, +125427868230, +150873021530, +104233214142,+16182437257 and +115457553331 from the US and +447403926341 from the UK.
Information technology consultant Mohd Ridzman Azzahari Mohd Ridzman said the calls were believed to be one of the scare tactics to intimidate candidates.
“The calls were made using a ‘dummy’ number, which can be used by the caller to contact someone.
“The application functions only for a one-way call.
“This technique is not harmful but the receiver will be annoyed and disturbed because of the persistent incoming calls,” he said yesterday.
Ridzman said the spam calls could not be detected and it was possible that the caller made the calls from Malaysia.
“Recipients need not worry because this technique cannot hack smartphone information as claimed.
“Website hacking is more dangerous because cyber-attacks are capable of crippling the system and preventing people from accessing important information.”
“It is an important day today (yesterday) and it is possible these techniques are being used by irresponsible parties aiming to intervene with the polling day,” he said.
The calls were made using a ‘dummy’ number, which can be used by the caller to contact someone. MOHD RIDZMAN AZZAHARI MOHD RIDZMAN
Information technology consultant