While we have been told many times to be wary of calls from unknown parties and not be lured or tricked by the lucrative offers or threats, many still fall for the same trick with devastating financial consequences.
Fortunately, a woman in Penang was saved from suffering the fate of scam victims thanks to the alertness and assistance provided to her by a Maybank staff.
Received several calls from scammer
In a statement released by the bank on Wednesday (Apr 3), the targeted victim was a 57-year-old government servant named Fatimah, who received several phone calls from a person claiming to be bank representative and that her account was used to commit fraud.
To further deceive her, the suspect also pretended to be a representative from various enforcement and regulatory agencies such as the Royal Malaysia Police and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
In one of the calls which lasted more than four hours, the suspect instructed Fatimah to withdraw RM150,000 from her savings account at the Maybank branch in Kampung Baru, Penang.
Maybank worker saves woman from losing RM150,000
Completely fooled by the scammer, Fatimah headed to the said Maybank branch to withdraw the requested amount.
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.
However, this set off warning bells in the Maybank staff, who decided to step in as she found the entire situation to be fishy.
“She guided me through the process of filing a case report with the bank, swiftly freezing my account to safeguard my hard-earned money.
“I am so grateful to her for going above and beyond to help me, especially since it was beyond regular branch hours,” said Fatimah as quoted in the statement.
RM6.4mil saved from being lost to scams
Throughout 2023, Maybank said that it had prevented its customers from losing a total of RM6.4 million to scams.
It also urged Malaysians to keep themselves updated on the latest scam tactics and to stay vigilant if they receive calls from individuals claiming to be the authorities.
Should they find themselves becoming a scam victim, they are encouraged to call the National Scam Resource Centre hotline at 997 or Maybank’s 24/7 Fraud hotline at +603-58914744.
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