Retiree shocked to find personal information used in scam

GEORGE TOWN: A retiree, who was alert enough not to fall prey to a Macau scam syndicate, has questioned how his personal information was easily obtained by the scammers.

Lai Kok Tin, 58, said a woman who called him claiming to be from a bank, could spell his name, read out his MyKad number and also his phone number, without any errors.

“How could this happen? Did anyone sell the information to outside people?” he asked at a press conference at Pantai Jerejak Gerakan service centre here yesterday.

Lai said the woman who called on Monday alleged that he owed the bank RM3,997.

“The woman claimed that I swiped the credit card issued by a bank at a jewellery shop. When I denied having a credit card, she told me the card was applied in Johor Baru on Sept 5.

“I told her that I would lodge a police report that my personal information has been misused but the woman asked me not to do so.

She asked me to call a number which was said to be Bank Negara.

He said he got another call from a man the next morning, who told him he had outstanding credit card debt.

“I was so unhappy and I told him that I would lodge a police report.

“The person was nervous and quickly hung up after telling me what I should do next,” Lai said.

He said he wanted to remind the public not to fall prey to phone scams.

“When I lodged the report, the investigating officer said there were quite a number of similar reports recently and some of the victims were cheated.

“The police also said the scammers use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology so that the numbers that appeared on the victims’ phones would match the phone numbers of banks, Bank Negara or police stations,” he said.

Gerakan Pantai Jerejak coordinator Oh Tong Keong urged the public to be mindful of scammers.

“Check with the police or respective bank before transferring money to any unknown bank accounts,” he said.