‘Switch only works if you’re aware of fake transactions’

PETALING JAYA: She had no idea her money had vanished from her savings account while she was happily spending the weekend at the pool with her husband.

Aneirsin, whose Twitter handle is @ririenesss, shared her experience with Chuah Kee Man, senior lecturer in communication at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, who tweeted about the “kill switch” feature in banking apps.

Recalling her Feb 24 encounter, Aneirsin said she had lost money before being able to deactivate her account using the kill switch button in her banking app.

“I happily went swimming with my husband, and when I saw my phone later, I got a notification saying my second transaction had been declined.

“It was strange because I did not conduct any transactions. When I switched on my M2U app, my money was gone,” she said.

However, she did not reveal how much was lost.

“I just deactivated my online banking by turning on the kill switch as soon as I realised my bank account had been compromised.

“I lost some money on the first transaction without a TAC (Transaction Authorisation Code) number and notification,” she said, adding that she also withdrew all her money from the account.

Earlier, Aneirsin said she agreed with Chuah’s tweet which read: “The kill switch would work only if you are aware of unapproved transactions. But most of the time, you are not even alerted. No SMS, no notifications, no calls. The security features of all banking apps regarding transaction approval should also be taken seriously.”

She also said she was still doubtful about the app’s safety features.

“If we want to transfer money from our account, we need to have a TAC number or use Secure2u to get notifications.

“But the scammers did a clean job. The money was gone by the time I realised it,” she added.

While tabling the revised Budget 2023 on Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that Bank Negara would require all banks to add a “kill switch” that will let account holders freeze their accounts when suspicious activity is detected.

He also said the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) had been allocated RM10mil to combat rising online fraud as 25,000 cases were recorded in 2022, costing RM850mil.