218 Trillion Dollars

I’m sure you saw this already, but if you didn’t, a Malaysian man is getting charged quite the amount for long distance on his late father’s telephone bill.

A Malaysian man said he nearly fainted when he received a U.S. $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to pay up within 10 days or face prosecution, a newspaper reported Monday.

Yahaya Wahab said he disconnected his late father’s phone line in January after he died and settled the 84-ringgit (U.S. $23) bill, the New Straits Times reported.

But Telekom Malaysia later sent him a 806,400,000,000,000.01-ringgit (U.S. $218 trillion) bill for recent telephone calls along with orders to settle within 10 days or face legal proceedings, the newspaper reported.

It reminds me of the ransom demand in Austin Powers. ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS! And everyone just laughs.

Is it even possible to talk that long in a lifetime? Does all of Malaysia even use $218 trillion of long distance in a year?