New gadgets are always being launched almost every other month and trying to keep up with them isn’t easy because not all of us are loaded. Sad but true! Hence, most of us would choose to either trade in our old mobiles for new ones or just sell it away when we’ve gotten our hands on a new model.
Source: Youtube
However, it appears that if you want to sell or trade in your old mobile phones in the near future, you will have to provide your personal details and a copy of your IC. According to Oriental Daily, the Malaysia Mobile & Consumer Association (PPTM) has announced that starting from December 1, those who wish to sell or trade in their phones to retailers under their association will be required to give their IC and personal details.
Wait, but why? Apparently, PPTM said that they are doing this to protect their members as cases of stolen phones in the past few years have been increasing. They said that there’s been many incidents where the police would turn up at a particular retailer’s shop saying that they suspected a thief had sold their loot there. After all, most robbers would quickly sell off their stolen items to get some cash!
Source: Wonderful Malaysia
They had confiscated their stock for evidence, which caused them to suffer serious losses. Therefore, after discussions with the police, PPTM has decided that in order to protect their over 700 retailers, they will implement this measure in hopes that this would also deter those robbers from stealing phones. You wouldn’t want your name to be linked to stolen merchandise, right?
Some of the information that will be collected include a photocopy of your IC, name, contact number and address. However, PPTM stresses that these details will remain private and said, “Personal information is submitted only with the consent of both parties and will not be keyed in to any computer to prevent data breach. The Association will ensure that these information will only be provided to the police when requested.”
Source: Vulcan Post
This move was deemed to be a win-win situation for both the public and shop owners. Many of them had even been under suspicion that they were involved in robberies when the police discovered that they had stolen goods in their stock.
The general manager of Low Yat Plaza also welcomes this move and said that he hopes more mobile phone retailers would join the association as there were only about 700 of them. You can check the list of retailers involved in this initiative here.
Hopefully this would stop pickpockets and robbers from stealing our precious phones once they realise how much more difficult it’ll be for them to sell off their stolen gadgets!
Also read: Come December, M’sians Must Do Biometric Checks Before Buying Thai SIM Cards
