GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA: The Consumers Association of Penang has called on the authorities to clamp down on those sending unsolicited text messages to mobile phone users, which it said has reached alarming levels.

Its president, S.M. Mohamed Idris, said privacy laws should be introduced to prevent companies from disclosing the private information of clients.

"Protection of privacy and the concept of equal liability should be introduced to protect consumers," he said yesterday.

At the same press conference, a victim of a text message scam related how he was conned into investing RM19,888 for an e-Pos kiosk, a machine which could be used for a variety of things, including paying utility bills and purchasing prepaid telephone top-up cards.

Shaiful Hafez, 36, said he was told the machine would net him returns of RM1,000 a month.

"However, I have yet to get anything back until now and the people who convinced me to invest the money have also disappeared."

Shaiful has lodged a report at the Seberang Jaya police station and was told that he was the fifth person to have lodged such a report. --NST