Malaysian Phone Company Blaming Collection Agency for $218 trillion Mistake

Published on:
12 September 2006 at 10:21 a.m. ET

Written by: Unknown Author –

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00015079-malaysian-phone-company-blaming-collectio/

The largest telephone company in Malaysia blamed a debt collection agency today for a typo that resulted in a $218 trillion phone bill being sent to a dead man, the Associated Press reported.

Telekom Malaysia said they had nothing to do with the error and that the collection agency has been put on notice. A spokesperson for the phone company told the Associated Press, “It’s clearly not Telekom Malaysia’s fault…we have given a stern warning to the debt collection agency because they sent out the notice.”

The bill was supposed to be for $21.80 instead of the shocking $218 trillion that actually appeared on the statement. Telekom Malaysia said the fault lies in a misplaced decimal point.

The spokesperson for Telekom Malaysia did not reveal the collection agency’s name.