NEWS
Malaysia’s Biggest Digital Heist: 46.2 Million Mobile Numbers Leaked Online
Have you ever received unsolicited calls or messages from strangers? Some callers even go to the extent of pretending to be someone from an established organisation and are even able to read all your personal data making them appear more convincing. Well chances are, your data has been illegally leaked to a third party.
Data breach isn’t something unheard of especially in this modern day but imagine hearing a staggering 46.2 million mobile phone numbers leaked!
Believe it or not, this allegedly happened in Malaysia and it was reported by Lowyat.net, an online forum and news site on Monday.
The site confirmed that “roughly 46.2 million mobile phone numbers from Malaysian telcos and mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) have been leaked online.”
Malaysia only has a population of 32 million people, so the excess numbers could have been from temporary numbers bought by foreigners or inactive lines.
The data leak includes postpaid and prepaid mobile phone numbers from telco providers such as Digi, Umobile, Celcom, Maxis, Tunetalk, XOX, and many more. Apart from mobile numbers, customers’ personal details, addresses, and even sim card information including IMEI and IMSI numbers were also illegally disclosed.
The police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are already investigating the case following the exposé.Just when we thought this data nightmare couldn’t be worse, apparently 81,309 records from three databases from the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), and the Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) have also been leaked.
Lowyat.net reported that they didn’t believe at first what was posted by one of the users on their website regarding the sale of personal data belonging to Malaysians and thought it was a scam.Well thanks to their curiousity, they actually looked into it and it turned out to be a legit offer in Bitcoin currency of what seems to be “the biggest data breaches ever in Malaysian history.” The source of breach is still unknown.
According to The Star, Lowyat.net has handed over all the information received regarding the data leak to MCMC for further investigation.
If the data falls into the wrong hands, multiple social engineering attacks such as phone and messaging scams will be orchestrated or even worse, phone cloning.
So, what are customers at risk of now?
If the data falls into the wrong hands, multiple social engineering attacks such as phone and messaging scams will be orchestrated or even worse, phone cloning. Always be vigilant and do not easily divulge your personal information to unknown callers or numbers. If someone appears to know a little too much about you, try and verify it to see if it’s from a legitimate source. Immediately lodge a report if the caller or messenger appears to be dubious.
There are a lot of scams out there asking you to transfer your money into an unknown account, so make sure you don’t fall prey to them.
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