Malaysians are the world’s worst “text rats” who love to send flirty messages behind their partner’s back, according to a survey.

Millions of Italians use text messages to woo their lovers while 40 per cent of Russians prefer sending a text message on Valentine’s Day.

A survey by the software group LogicaCMG canvassed more than 8500 people around the world on “The Joys of Text.” Almost 40 per cent of Malaysians surveyed guiltily admitted to flirting electronically by text to someone other than their beloved. Germans won the award for the most “text-trustworthy” people with only seven per cent checking their partner’s mobile.

One in 10 Italian love affairs started with a text message while one in three Philippine women said they preferred a text to chocolates or a card, the survey showed. Some of the findings include:

* Guilty-text: Malaysians are the most likely to have guilty-text, with almost 40% of people sending flirty messages without their partners’ knowing.

* Text-flirting: Millions of Italian men use SMS as their primary tool for finding lovers. One in ten relationships in Italy started with a text invitation for a first date, and nearly a third started with text-flirting.

* Text-check: Germans are the most text-trusted, with just 7% of people checking their partner’s mobiles.

* SMSweetheart: Amazingly men in the Philippines have the easiest Valentine’s Day, with more than a third of women preferring a romantic text message to chocolates or a card. Russian passion seems to have evolved during the past century, with 40% of Russians making do with a text message on Valentine’s Day.

* Text ditching: Almost one in ten Singaporeans have used a text message to break up with someone. Germans are the least likely to be text-ditched, while around 3% of Brits have been dumped in this way.

Whatever you call it, there is no running away from the fact that SMS, which stands for short message service, has become an increasingly popular avenue for flirting among Singaporeans, said Life magazine. Almost a quarter - or 23 per cent - of people here are guilty of sending sexy or flirtatious messages to someone other than their own partner.

In the poll of about 1,000 mobile phone users in Singapore aged between 16 and 64, 30 per cent said they have flirted with their current partner via SMS.

Commenting on the findings, LogicaCMG telecoms chief marketing officer Jayne Chace says: “The reaction people have when their phone beeps to signal an incoming message resonates deeply within them, and this brings out the best and worst in people.” Private investigator Dennis Lee from Covert Acquisition tells Life! that the number is ‘low’ and he suspects that the real figure could be higher.

He says that about 70 or 80 per cent of his clients regularly check their partner’s phones for suspicious messages or calls.

Marriage counsellor Benny Bong from consulting and training agency FamilyWorks feels that the survey results for SMS flirting and phone checking is a worrying sign.

It is something that is waiting to explode,” he says.

“Many people are playing with the idea that SMS flirting is not dangerous, but they are just fooling themselves.”