While technology has provided much convenience for our daily lives, it has also compromised us to unforeseen dangers, especially online transactions.
An insurance agent in Johor Bahru was left reeling with shock after he discovered that his bank account account got hacked and all of his savings were drained, leaving him with only RM1.
M’sian insurance agent left with RM1 in bank account
According to The Star, the victim, 53-year-old Koo Kah Peng, said he had made a purchase on Facebook on May 19 and checked his bank account before making the payment, where it had RM11,092 for his daily expenses and children’s education.
“I have never made an online transfer before as it is my usual practice to make a cash deposit in person to the seller when I make online purchases,” he said during a press conference yesterday (June 26).
The next day, he was horrified to find that all his savings had been transferred to another bank account under the name of an individual named Nicholas.
“I don’t know who Nicholas is. I realised this while checking my bank account balance online at 11am last May 20, when I was at my family’s house in Taman Pelangi Indah here.
“The last time I checked the bank account balance was a day prior. At first, I thought I had lost my bank card, but I found that my card was not lost,” he said as quoted by Sinar Daily.
Unsatisfied with bank’s explanation
Following the hack, Khoo lodged a police report and went to the bank demanded an explanation over the matter. He also lodged a report with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
After three days of follow-up, he was told by the bank that his money was transferred to an unknown account via four transactions.
“I am unsatisfied by the answer given by the bank, which claimed that several transaction authorisation codes (TAC) were sent to my mobile phone number – but I did not receive any such codes. I even sent my smartphone to a mobile phone shop to check and no TAC were found,” he said.
Khoo added that the bank is currently investigating the matter and insisted that the incident was caused by its weak security system, especially when it came to internet banking.
He also said that although he has changed his online banking app password, he still fears a similar incident might happen again.
Meanwhile, Johor Jaya DAP public complaints bureau chief Mok Meng Haw urged the public not to download apps or click on suspicious links and to contact the National Scam Response Centre hotline at 997 within 24 hours if they believe they have been scammed.
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