ABM, AIBIM urged public to beware of fake NSRC officers

KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) have called for heightened vigilance against scams impersonating National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) officers.

A joint statement yesterday said there is a growing number of such scams targeting bank customers.

The statement urged customers to immediately hang up if they receive calls from individuals claiming to be NSRC officers because NSRC only receives calls from the public and does not make any outbound calls to individuals.

The statement outlined the modus operandi.

The fraudster would pose as an NSRC officer and attempt to scare unsuspecting victims by alleging that their personal information, such as their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) number or mobile number, is linked to illegal or fraudulent activities.

The scam begins with the victim receiving a call from an unknown mobile number, alleging to be an NSRC officer.

The fraudster would then falsely claim that the victim’s identity or personal particulars have been used in criminal activities, such as money laundering and mule account transactions.

The fraudster goes into lengthy “interrogation” tactics mimicking a real investigation, to establish a sense of legitimacy.

This involves repeated phone calls over a prolonged period.

Finally, after gaining the victim’s trust, the fraudster will ask the victim to leave their debit/ ATM card at a designated location.

This allows the fraudster to fraudulently access the victim’s online banking account to make unauthorised transfers and bill payments and make unauthorised cash withdrawals at the ATM using the victim’s bank card.

If the victim does not have an existing online banking facility, the fraudster could even register for one.

The statement said banks also encourage the public to beware of fraudsters posing as officers from enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies, such as Bank Negara Malaysia and Polis Diraja Malaysia, who use threats and scare tactics over the phone to manipulate victims into transferring money out of their bank accounts and divulge their online banking credentials. The bank associations reminded customers that banks will never request sensitive information such as credit or debit card numbers, card verification value (CVV) numbers, online banking usernames and one-time password (OTP) or type allocation code (TAC) numbers.

“Customers should never click on hyperlinks from unknown numbers, download apps from links on messaging apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp, share banking usernames and passwords with anyone, and entertain phone calls or messages from unknown mobile phone numbers.

“Customers who have fallen victim to scams should immediately call the NSRC at 997 or banks’ 24/7 customer service hotlines for assistance,” it said.