Telcos must explain alleged mass registration of phone lines under single identities by today, says Fahmi
PETALING JAYA, Aug 20 — Telecommunications companies (telcos) must provide an immediate explanation over claims that a large number of telephone 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 the telcos concerned and wanted their chief executive officers (CEOs) to provide a full explanation on the matter by the end of today.
“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 2026 National Anti-Scam Awareness Programme here today, which was also attended by Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan.
Fahmi said the government had introduced several measures, including requiring MyDigital ID verification for the registration of prepaid lines.
He said the measure was important following cases in which telephone numbers had been registered and subsequently misused for illicit purposes.
Earlier, Nadzim claimed that some telcos allowed between 20 and 50 telephone lines to be registered under a single name, raising concerns that the lines could be misused, including for online scams.
He said the companies concerned must be held accountable for the misuse of registered lines, which could result in consumers falling victim to scams.
Nadzim said his organisation had received a case involving a 70-year-old man who had only one telephone line but discovered that 18 lines had been registered under his name, as well as another case in which as many as 400 lines were allegedly registered using 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.
He said his organisation therefore hoped the government would summon the CEOs of the telcos to explain the mechanisms and safeguards governing the number of lines that can be registered under a single identity, as well as ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
