When we receive SMSes titled KKM, GOV and so forth, we would expect these messages to be from the respective government agencies, right?
Well, many recently received SMSes titled ‘InfoPRU’, meaning ‘General Election (GE) Information’, leading them to believe that it came from the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC/SPR). But, that’s not the case.
BFM News took to their Twitter page to share how these SMSes, along with a link, are actually from Perikatan Nasional (PN). The link provided in the message directs people to a page showcasing the PN candidate in their area and it even includes the voter’s personal information.
They wrote, “Angry netizens are complaining after receiving SMSes from Perikatan Nasional, calling it intrusive and likening it to tactics used by scams. The SMS does not indicate that it is from PN, but the attached link leads to a PN poster with voters’ respective personal details.”
The SMS merely states, “You are one of the voters in the GE15 voters list.”
Further misleading people, the link is titled ‘Your voting details’, making people assume that it leads to MySPR Semak where you can check on your status as a voter.
What makes this more concerning is the fact that the PN poster linked includes the voter’s full name, IC number, voting station, DUN and related personal details found on the SPR Semak website, along with the PN candidate for the voters’ areas.
“I thought it was an SPR message. It took me awhile to figure out why my name and particulars were on a PN poster. My details are compromised. How is this possible? Who is behind this?” a Malaysian named Poh shared with BFM News.
“Having the URL and SMS as ‘infoPRU’ is so deceiving, seeing it is owned by PN,” another said.
We genuinely hope that the authorities look into this matter.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Also read: PN Candidate Severely Roasted For ‘Stupid Solution’ With Pothole In Penang