Scammers now trick victims by impersonating authorities via internet
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PETALING JAYA: Movie spoofs may provide comic relief but “spoofing” scams are no laughing matter. They are serious crimes with Malaysians losing tens of millions yearly.
Scammers are now tricking unsuspecting Malaysians by boldly impersonating Bukit Aman and Bank Negara officers in their schemes.
Comm Datuk Mortadza Nazarene
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These technologically savvy conmen misuse Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) – a system for making voice calls over the Internet – to mimic their caller IDs.
They make it seem like the number they are calling from is a Bukit Aman or Bank Negara line, or of any other agency, on the phone screen.
At least 2,000 people have been duped this way since 2012, resulting in more than RM60mil in losses.
In some of the cases, the victims lost their entire life savings.
The scammers would call or e-mail potential victims on the pretext of warning them that their bank account has been compromised. Then, they advise them to transfer their money to a purportedly safe account.
Once the victims transfer the money into the account of the scammers, it is withdrawn and the conmen disappear.
The accounts are usually set up using fake identities.
Federal Commercial Crimes Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Mortadza Nazarene said the syndicates also used scare tactics to con their victims.
One such tactic is to tell the victim that they are calling from Bukit Aman and that his or her account had been used for criminal activities.
Other tactics include telling victims that they have won a prize but would have to pay certain “fees” to claim it.
“The numbers of tricks these conmen use are many and varied. They must have a guidebook on these scams,” said Comm Mortadza.
He said it was alarming that, despite all the warnings from the police, banks and others, people are still falling for such scams.
Comm Mortadza said people should check with Bukit Aman, Bank Negara or their banks before transferring any money.
Comm Mortadza also warned about phishing scams in which scammers trick victims into clicking on Internet links sent to them via e-mail.
“These may lead them to a website that steals personal information, such as bank account numbers and passwords, or installs malicious software that enables the scammer to take over the victim’s computer.
“A common trick is to send a victim to a spoof site that looks exactly like his or her bank’s official website, which instructs the victim to type in his account details and password,” he said.
Bukit Aman has detained some 180 syndicate members for such fraud over the past three years.
Many fall for ‘legal and personal’ sounding tricks
BY NICHOLAS CHENG AND AKIL YUNUS
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PETALING JAYA: Nigerian scam e-mails and SMSes promising expensive lucky draw prizes used to be the norm but scammers are now opting for “legal and personal” sounding tricks to get gullible folk to part with their money.
Lee, (not her real name) a housewife in Seremban received a call from a man claiming to be a bank representative asking if she had bought jewellery from a store at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
“I said no and he told me to call Bank Negara and gave me a number to call,”
“I was greeted by a professional sounding voice automated machine when I did,” she recalled.
After being welcomed to “Bank Negara” and given the extension numbers to key in, Lee was passed from department to department, as the generic operator music played on while she waited.
She was then greeted by a “bank officer” who told her that investigations showed her bank details had been stolen and used to open a joint account with a stranger in Singapore.
“He said the stranger was part of a money laundering syndicate in the republic. I got scared because he said there was a criminal investigation.
“He said the man might have access to my account and asked me to go to my bank and check if anything was missing in my balance.
“He also told me to stay on the phone the whole time for ‘recording purposes’,” she added.
When she reached the bank, the “officer” who was still on the phone with her, informed her that a “safe account” had been set up for her to move her money.
Fearing that she could lose her money and convinced she was speaking with someone of authority, Lee banked in her entire life savings.
“The authorities never told me to watch out for things like this. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew. I just want to forget the whole thing but it is haunting me,” said Lee, who broke down while speaking on the phone.
Another victim, Najat, a 25-year-old interior designer in KL, received a phone call from an automated operator of a particular bank, asking if she had just bought RM3,000 worth of jewellery with the bank’s credit card.
She said she had made no such transaction and asked to speak to a bank officer.
The man who greeted her on the other line spoke fluent Malay and sounded professional.
He asked her for her personal details and posed a series of questions about her credit card usage.
He then told her that her identity might have been stolen, and asked her to file a report with Bank Negara’s “Unit Kredit Kad Palsu” (Credit Card Fraud Unit).
When Najat called the number given, one “Inspector Teo” claiming to be from the unit, asked her to transfer funds to a third party account as part of a “security check”.
“I believed him and tried to transfer RM7,000 to the bank account number given to me.
“However, the transaction did not get through as my daily transfer limit has been set at RM3,000.
“Before hanging up, Inspector Teo warned me not to use any of my credit cards for three days or disclose the investigation to anyone,” said Najat.
Feeling that something was amiss, she called Bank Negara again.
This time, a bank officer told her she had been conned as the two men who spoke to her earlier were not employees of the bank.
There is no credit card fraud unit.
“I spent the rest of the day in and out of the police station, changing my bank account details, and freezing any attempted transactions.
Priya, 27, related a similar story of receiving a call from a supposed banking agent telling her that she had an outstanding debit of RM6,000 on her credit card.
“I told him repeatedly that I do not have any credit cards, and he passed me to someone else, who told me I might be a victim of identity theft.
“He started asking for my savings account particulars, which I gave, but luckily I did not give him my pin number.
“Then he said he would call me back later, but naturally he didn’t.”
Priya later read a statement on Bank Negara’s website warning the public to be wary of fraud attempts using such tactics.
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