KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 ― Malaysians have found themselves owing telcos after falling victim to identity theft syndicates that fraudulently register postpaid phone numbers under their names, a report said.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) enforcement and investigation chief Datuk Mohd Shafie Harun said several cases in Taman Prima Selayang, Batu Caves can be attributed to a profit-motivated syndicate.

He said MCMC guidelines requires those seeking to register for a postpaid mobile phone number to show up physically with valid identification papers, adding that telcos should ensure that their registered dealers comply with these requirements.

"However, some of the victims don't even know they had numbers registered until they had numbers registered under their names until they received calls from debt collectors,” he was quoted saying by local daily The Star.

He also said that telcos come up with higher incentives to motivate their dealers to get more customers owing to stiff industry competition.

"However, some dealers have no regard for the consumers or the law, it's all about the money,” he said.

Dealers who flout the MCMC guidelines will face a maximum fine of RM100,000 or maximum two-year jail term or both, the report said.

The Star said 169 complaints of false registration of sim cards for mobile phone numbers have been lodged with the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia from January 2016 to May 2017.

According to The Star, eight victims from Taman Prima Selayang had on June 8 lodged complaints with MCMC and that the telco confirmed it would waive the bills for their postpaid accounts which were found to be fraudulent and unauthorised.

The victims include senior citizens such as 86-year-old Arokiasamy Thomas who had received monthly phone bills since 2015 of the thousands of ringgits that he purportedly owed to telcos and had also faced threats of legal action from debt collectors.

According to The Star, 73-year-old Liang Ngan Kan who is mute and does not have a mobile phone was also a victim and was claimed to have a RM1,800 telco bill, while his 62-year-old wife and 66-year-old sister-in-law also received such telco bills.