KUCHING, June 1: An online banking fraud victim is puzzled as to why banks could send SMS to demand payment for his credit card bills but failed to SMS him when the same credit cards were hacked and used without his authorisation.
The victim of Internet banking fraud has sought help from Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) to engage with his bank to get a refund for RM4,950 transferred out of his savings account and void fraudulent transactions of RM16,296 on his credit cards.
Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the victim, surnamed Chew, had on April 28, 2022 discovered that there were three successful unauthorised transfers of funds from his CIMB bank account, namely one transfer of RM1,819 to online shopping portal Shoppee, and two transfers of RM1,950 and RM3,000 to U-Mobile.
“He had then immediately informed the bank and lodged a police report. After two weeks, the RM1,819 transferred to Shoppee was refunded but the RM4,950 transferred to U-Mobile was still not refunded to him.
“The bank kept giving excuses that it needed further investigation,” Chong said in a statement today.
Later in May, Chew also discovered that two of his credit cards were hacked on April 28, 2022, chalking up a total debt of RM16,296 without him receiving any notification for the unauthorised use of his credit cards.
Chew informed Chong that he only came to know about the unauthorised use two weeks later when the banks demanded payment from him.
“Of late, such Internet banking fraud cases are getting very rampant. This has created doubts and worries about the security of banking institutions in Malaysia. It seems that the Internet security systems of banks in Malaysia are so vulnerable that anyone can, without their knowledge, be subject to Internet banking fraud and lose their savings for nothing,” Chong said.
If the country is serious about moving towards digitalisation and e-banking, the Stampin MP stressed that the government must first ensure the security of the Internet banking system which forms the foundation of the whole transformation of the country’s economy.
“In fact, such Internet banking fraud can be avoided if the banks improve their security systems and constantly upgrade their firewall software system. It all boils down to whether sufficient funds are allocated for such upgrading services,” he said.
Chong opined that it is only when the banks are made to pay the innocent victims for their losses that the banks will then have the incentives to invest more on system security.
“Otherwise, the banks will just pass the costs to these fraud victims,” he added.
The Padungan assemblyman thus urged the government to act quickly, otherwise, not only will more ordinary people become victims of such fraud, but the progress of the country will also be hampered as people start to lose confidence in the banking system. — DayakDaily
