By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |
As always, you would never think that you would be the next victim of an online scam. But a Sikh housewife is coming forward with a warning that it could hit just about anyone, if you let your guards down.
Just when Johor-based Baljeet Kaur was getting tired of juggling household chores and a Master’s degree, she chanced on an online advertisement for cleaning service.
Little did she know that her bank account was about to be wiped clean in the mid-June incident. She lost some RM20,000 in the scam.
“I want to share my story so that others don’t get duped,” she told Asia Samachar in a phone conversation.
This is how it happened. After responding to the online advertisement, a man contacted her and promised to send two maids for two hours at a fee of RM40. Shen then gets a text message from the same phone number with a link and instructions to download an application. She was asked to pay a one-time registration fee of RM20.
“I told him I’ll pay the registration fee along with the payment for the maids, but the man insisted that the registration payment must be done first, and he would collect the cleaning fee in person,” she said.
She downloaded the application, filled up a form and was directed to a page where she was required to reveal her online banking details to pay the registration fee.
“It looked very much like your online bank account website. But I received a message that the transaction didn’t get through. I then called the man, and he told me it could be a problem with my bank account. He suggested I try paying from another bank account,” she said.
Baljeet decided to ignore the suggestion. When it was almost time for the maids to show up, she felt suspicious as she did not get any return call. When she checked her banking account, she found that RM19,500 had been withdrawn. She then tried calling the man but the number was no longer reachable.
This is the response from her bank: “From what you’ve told us when filing your case we can see you’ve been a victim of a scam whereby your Internet Banking credentials could have been compromised via malicious application/link or unsecured website.
“Please be aware that by clicking a link or downloading a malicious application from unsecured website will enable a third party to gain access to your mobile device. Through this link or application, an unauthorized person can perform a variety of task such as diverting the PAC notification sent to your mobile device to a third party device.”
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: asia.samachar@gmail.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
