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Spam calls, texts frustrate Indonesian consumers
Indonesians have been expressing annoyance over frequent spam calls and text messages, and the country ranks sixth worldwide for consumers affected by scams.
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Indonesians have been expressing annoyance over frequent spam calls and text messages. (Shutterstock/Artur Szczybylo)
Many Indonesians feel pestered by spam calls and text messages, some of which are designed to ensnare them in crafty scams.
Private-sector employee Vita recalled a call she received last year from an unknown person claiming to be a representative of her data provider, Telkomsel. The person asked her to exchange her reward points, but Vita knew better.
“When I asked them to send me the details via email or app, they were flustered. They said they could only send me a link through SMS,” the 26-years-old said on Wednesday.
Vita received the link, but did not do anything further. She said she had learned her lesson from a similar scheme back in 2020, when a scammer had almost got hold of her personal data.
“Back then, I followed their instructions, because I was not paying attention. I think this is also their trick, because they called during business hours when I was busy,” she recalled. “I contacted Telkomsel, and they were cooperative, but these spam calls keep happening.”
The government has made it mandatory to register a phone number with a user’s identity card (NIK) and family card (KK) numbers in 2017. However, Vita opined that that policy did little to curb spam.
Read also: Exposed by the past: Indonesia’s phone number recycling may result in data leaks
