MCMC warns of stern action over spam calls

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has warned of stern action over the spam calls received by many general election candidates yesterday.

MCMC, in a statement, said it had received complaints from several political parties about their candidates experiencing their phones ringing and call drops.

“MCMC and the service providers are continuing to investigate and, in the event that the initiators are identified, the MCMC will take stern action as provided for by the law. For those getting such calls from unknown numbers, please be advised not to answer it.

“Our earlier investigation points to a technical cause of BOTS attack, which is initiated anonymously from various sources with differing targets, irrespective of the political parties,” it said.

MCMC advised resorting to this act to stop doing so immediately as it could jeopardise the telecommunication network and inconvenience the public and pose a security risk, the statement said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak slammed the act of spam phone calls from international numbers received by many Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders.

Najib, who is also BN chairman, ordered immediate action into the matter.

PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said most of the Pakatan Harapan candidates’ phones and primary email addresses were being targeted in the new-style attack.

Apart from political leaders, top government officials such as the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and the InspectorGeneral of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun were also targeted. - Bernama