Beware the thief of mobile phone credit

A WEEK ago, I received an SMS text from a 3xxxx number notifying me that I had successfully subscribed to a video service and that RM4 had been deducted from my prepaid mobile account.

After checking it out, I realised I had done nothing to effect this subscription and that it was also the first message I had ever received from the 3xxxx number.

So, somehow there is a way to raid the prepaid account of an unsuspecting user and send an SMS notification AFTER the amount has been deducted.

I lodged a complaint with my telco and got the response that they could not help me but instead directed me to contact the SMS number operator. With that, they closed the case.

I then escalated my complaint to the MCMC, which, to its credit, passed my complaint swiftly back to my telco and within a couple of days, I got a message that they were “doing their best to resolve my complaint”.

Then, exactly one week after the incident, my telco informed me that my case was resolved without giving any explanation.

I checked and found that RM4 had been credited to my account.

I wonder how many mobile phone users in Malaysia are being fleeced in this way every day.

Why is this practice even allowed?

The telco was complicit and yet tried to push away their responsibility.

I sympathise with fellow citizens who are not aware that their hardearned money is being stolen or of the means to get it back. PSLIM Kuala Nerus, Terengganu