BATU PAHAT: A company has suffered losses of RM1.9mil after hackers gained access to its bank account information and transferred the money to an unknown account.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said they were told of the case on March 28 at 6.34pm after a 41-year-old woman, the company accountant, lodged a police report.
"Investigations revealed that the company used a bulk payment method from a local bank to pay its suppliers on a monthly basis.
"This method enables the company to key in the name and account number of their suppliers and the amount they are supposed to pay.
"So every month, the company would only need to transfer the needed amount without changing anything and just click on the system and the bank would handle the rest.
"However, on March 27, the accountant noticed there had been 10 transactions on March 24 to other accounts not related to the company," he said in a statement on Wednesday (April 4).
The victim said he believed that the bulk payment system had been hacked and payment details were changed, he added.
The case is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997 for unauthorised access with intent to commit a further offence, which carries a maximum fine of RM150,000 or 10 years imprisonment, or both.
"We advise the public to be extra cautious when making any online payment – even if the details have been set – and conduct checks to ensure everything is in order before proceeding.
"Those who have become scam victims can also call the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to help freeze the transaction to an unknown account," he said.
