A 57-year-old government contract worker almost lost all of her life savings to a phone scam. — Unsplash
PENANG: A Maybank branch employee in Kampung Baru, Penang recently prevented a customer from losing RM150,000 to phone scammers impersonating enforcement agency officers.
The issue started when the customer Fatimah, a 57-year-old government contract worker, received a call that appeared to be from her bank, claiming that she was involved in unauthorised transactions and illegal mule account activities.
To further convince the victim, the fraudster also set up a series of phone calls to people pretending to be from various enforcement and regulatory agencies, such as the Royal Malaysia Police and Bank Negara Malaysia.
In a four-hour long phone call, the scammers instructed Fatimah to withdraw RM150,000 from her savings account at the Maybank Kampung Baru branch in Penang.
“I was shaken by the whole ordeal. At the branch, the teller performed the usual check and asked me the purpose of withdrawal. The scammer had instructed me earlier to lie and state that the money was for house renovation purposes,” said Fatimah.
She expressed her gratitude to the Assistant Branch Manager of Maybank Kampung Baru, Siti, who stepped in to guide her through the process of filing a case report with the bank and freezing her account to safeguard her money.
“Despite relentless attempts by the scammer to disrupt the proceedings with incessant calls, Siti’s calm reassurance and sound advice prevailed. I am so grateful to her for going above and beyond to help me, especially since it was beyond regular branch hours,” Fatimah added.
In light of her ordeal, Fatimah urges the public to protect themselves from scams by practicing constant vigilance, and to read up on the latest fraud strategies, beware of too-good-to-be-true deals, and seek their bank’s support if they suspect a scam.
Those who suspect they may have been scammed should immediately contact the National Scam Resource Centre by calling their hotline at 997, or visit the Anti-Scam National Resource Centre’s website to identify the latest scam tactics.
