An anonymous member of our “COMPLAINT SINGAPORE” Facebook group had sent us a complaint against Starhub, a major telco (Telecommunications Company) in Singapore.
According to the complainant, he recently went to the Starhub outlet at NEX (a regional shopping mall at Serangoon, Singapore area) with the intention to subscribe to a new mobile plan, however, he was shocked when the customer service staff told him that he got an outstanding bill for an unknown mobile line that was registered to his name, but under an unrelated company and address at: “47 HILL STREET #08-01 CHINESE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE A SINGAPORE 179365”.
On the Starhub bill, which was dated on “26/02/2001”, the outstanding amount due was S$223.25 for a GSM mobile number: 94526106 under a typical “Power Play” mobile plan.
The complainant informed neither him or his family have subscribed or ever have ownership of the said unknown mobile number, it is clearly an identity theft case, as someone had subscribed to a mobile line using his identity.
As such, he had contacted Starhub Billing Department 3 times (spoken to the customer service staff – Kathy and Joshua), and even visited the NEX Starhub Shop outlet and spoken to a senior staff – Mr Ahmad, however there was no solution provided.
A few days later on 13 March 2023, he received an email reply from Starhub, asking him to make immediate payment for the outstanding bill, before he can subscribe to a new mobile line.
There way no mentioning of any investigation process taken up on the identity theft case by Starhub.
Below is a text extract from an email reply from Starhub:
Dear XXX XXXX XXXX,
Good day!
We note the ongoing discussion about your account and understand the billing issue. We recognize your request for StarHub to admit and cancel the error.
Regrettably, we cannot grant your request. Do note that we only charge our customers based on their usage. Let me highlight my colleague’s email. You must clear all outstanding balances before requesting a new sign-up via Telesales (1630) or StarHub Shops.
Kindly note that the charges were listed under your name and document ID.
Let us know if you need further clarification.
Stay safe and healthy!
Regards,
Roxanne C.
Customer Affairs
Complainant is now considering lodging a police report to investigate into the matter of an identity theft, and hope Starhub will conduct an internal investigation too.
Updates (as on 17 March 2023):
The complainant had informed us that the the matter has been resolved.
StarHub has emailed him to inform that they “..will be clearing the outstanding balance”. The waiver will be processed”.
