Savings from two accounts missing after victims claim bank security compromised

JOHOR BARU: Two women are claiming over RM80,000 were fraudulently transferred from their bank accounts, by unknown individuals.

The first victim, who only wanted to be identified as Law, said she noticed several unknown transactions had been made to several e-wallet accounts on Jan 27.

"I immediately called the bank customer service, and they informed me a total of 13 transactions had been made, amounting to RM25,000 from 12.24pm to 1pm.

"The transfer was made to an unknown e-wallet account. I requested an explanation from the bank on how the transfer could be made even though my daily limit was only RM5,000.

"But the bank only gave the excuse that they are only obligated to send an OTP text message and nothing more," she said.

Law, who was speaking during a press conference organised by Pasir Gudang Public Complaints chief Syed Othman Syed Abdullah on Monday (Feb14), added she was left feeling frustrated with the bank's response.

She claimed each transaction was between RM1,000 and RM2,000, which is questionable as an e-wallet can only hold a maximum RM500.

Meanwhile, the second victim, who only wanted to be identified as Chen, 41, said that she noticed her bank account was suddenly frozen after trying to make an online transaction on Feb 11.

"I called the bank and they informed me that my account had been blocked. So I went to the bank to check my account and there was a deduction of RM55,020 from the initial amount of RM100,000.

"I was informed by the bank that there had been a total of 16 transactions made to personal accounts and two company accounts.

"What made me angry is that I have never gotten any OTP or TAC from the bank," she said, adding that, in one of the transactions, a total of RM21,000 was transferred to an account under the name of ‘Khalsom’.

Chen added the only answer she got from the bank is that they will investigate the matter, but until today, no bank representative had contacted her.

Meanwhile, Syed Othman said Bank Negara should conduct an immediate investigation into these cases, as it seems that the bank's security has been compromised.

"The banks should play a more proactive role," he said.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru South (JBS) OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat has confirmed police reports have been lodged and added cases had been handed over to the bank to investigate.