Consumer upset with mobile phone spam

MIRI: A consumer here is upset with a telecommunication company for allowing mobile phone spam. The consumer contacted thesundaypost yesterday to complain that his cellular service provider was allowing unsolicited commercial advertisements to be sent to his phone. “Just imagine, each advertisement received will be charged to the user between RM2 and RM5 and the charge is deducted directly from the mobile user’s credit,” he complained. The man said he had contacted the telecommunication company involved for an explanation but was disappointed with the response. “They only said they will look into each complaint received but when I asked for further explanation, they hesitated,” he said. According to him, over 26 million prepaid mobile users nationwide receive the advertisements and the telecommunication company involved would likely profit from the mobile phone spam. “We hope the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) look into this problem and monitor the type of advertisements circulated by telecommunication companies as it is burdening the people,” he said. He added that the various advertisements in the form of short message service (SMS) could mislead the public. “All these advertisements are not subscribed by consumers but are sent to random phone numbers through the telecommunication companies.” Although the telecommunication company involved would advise consumers to block the advertisement, the spam would be resent in a new format. “It is as if consumers are being cheated by the telecommunication company. Block the advertisement but there will still be other similar advertisements sent to the consumer’s mobile phone.”