Accountant loses half a million to scammers
GEORGE TOWN: After being told that his identity had been stolen, an accountant transferred his savings to purportedly “Bank Negara-controlled accounts” and fell victim to a common scam.
The scammers fleeced the 53-year-old of RM500,000 by first sending him an SMS, asking him to verify the purchase of RM4,299 worth of jewellery on a certain credit card.
It was not his card, but when he called the number provided in the SMS, he was told that his identity had been stolen and used to register the line of credit under his name.
Then, the men who identified themselves as Bank Negara officers, told him over the phone to transfer his savings to the accounts for “safekeeping”.
The accountant, who wanted to be known only as Lim, said he had spoken over the phone to several people in August.
“The first ‘bank officer’ told me I was a victim of identity theft, and asked me for all my bank account numbers so that they could be frozen immediately,” he said.
Lim was then given a “report number” and told to wait for a call from the officer’s superior.
The “superior” called a few hours later and told him to transfer all his savings into two bank accounts.
“The woman officer told me that they would give me a ‘bank passport’ to access those accounts later but it never happened,” said Lim.
“It was all so realistic. I never imagined I was being cheated. I hope my story will help prevent others from falling victim to these scammers,” he said at the Penang MCA headquarters yesterday.
Penang MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau chief Gui Guat Lye urged the public to ignore calls purportedly from Bank Negara or banks.
“Go to the nearest bank branch if you need to check, and never use the number given in the message or by the caller,” he said.
Lim
It was all so realistic. I never imagined I was being cheated. I hope my story will help prevent others from falling victim.