Tuesday June 23, 2009

Man loses RM5,000 to online phishing scam

By CHEN PELF YEEN

MALACCA: A 23-year-old victim of an on-line phishing scam wants the authorities to investigate a website similar to that of a reputable local bank who duped unsuspecting account holders.

University graduate Tey Hock Lin, from Batu Berendam said he lost RM5,000 to the scam after transferring money to a third party.

Victim of scam: Tey showing the email sent to him.

“I received an email from a sender whose name and website interface was very similar to that of a famous local bank.

“The email requested me to update my account due to inactivity on May 12.

“Soon after, I keyed in my username and password and received a SMS with a transaction authorisation code number which was required to confirm the procedure on-line,” he said at a press conference here.

He said he suspected nothing amiss as the website interface was a mirror to the ones used by a local bank.

“However, I was shocked when the bank called and said some money from my account was siphoned out,” he said.

He added bank had traced the details of the recipient and advised him to lodge a formal complaint with the bank as well as make a police report.

“I am sad to learn that I can’t get back the money easily,” he said, adding the bank had also issued him a third party transfer receipt with the account holder’s information.

Tey decided to track down the recipient via Internet and traced the person’s whereabouts to Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur.

“The person concerned claimed to be a financial advisor in Wangsa Maju who admitted that money was transferred to him.

“However, he refused to return my money saying that he was merely carrying out an on-line business to earn extra income via a contact in Romania,” he added.

Tey added the additional information was handed over to the police to assist investigations.

Meanwhile, Ayer Keroh assemblyman Khoo Poay Tiong advised members of the public not to fall prey to such dubious schemes.

“I hope the police and Bank Negara will work hand-in-hand to prevent others from being duped by similar on-line scams,” he said.

He urged the authorities to act swiftly on the culprit following the victim’s discovery of a link to the on-line scam based in Kuala Lumpur.

When contacted, a bank officer confirmed that Tey had lodged an official complain with them.

However, the officer refuted Tey’s claim that the bank was slow in investigating his complaint as such matters were time consuming.

Alor Gajah Commercial Crime Chief Inspector Ahmad Jamil confirmed receiving Tey’s report, added that the police had requested Bank Negara to investigate the recipient’s account.

The police officer added they would contact Tey if there were developments to the investigation.