Beware of a new fraud tactic. This just unbelievably happened to me
yesterday (June 3rd 2009). It made me went on a round of frenzies to
lodge report at a police station, cancelling all my credit cards and
changing all my savings/current accounts.
At around 1pm yesterday, I received a call from an Ambank number
which went into an automated machine informing me that I was about to
make a payment amounting to RM3,800.60 and to press 1 to confirm the
transaction or press 9 to speak to Customer Service. Caught by
surprise of such a call, I pressed 9 to speak to their Customer
Service. A guy by the name of Brandon answered and questioned me
whether I am about to make a RM3,800.60 payment which I said no. He
later asked whether I am now at KLIA. I straight away told him no and
that I am now at Kulim, Kedah. This Brandon guy then said that this
looks like a scam and he will immediately stop the RM3,800.60
transaction.
He further asked me whether I had recently applied for any credit
card which I said no. He informs me that there was an application for
an Ambank Mastercard under my name dated April 2nd 2009 with a credit
limit of RM10k and to date, the card has been used up to about
RM5,600++. He further advised me to immediately lodge a report with
Bank Negara’s Pusat Pengurusan Kad Kredit Palsu. I do not have the
number and he offered to connect me to Bank Negara where I spoke to
another guy named Charlie.
The call sounded really authentic and this Charlie guy pretended not
knowing anything and had me told him the story of what happened from A
to Z. Once I finished with my story, this Charlie guy asked me whether
do I suspect any close family members or friends misusing my personal
data for this purpose. He says it could be possible and it is very
important that I do not reveal a single thing to anybody until 6th
June 2009 (3 days) in order for the investigation to take place. He
asked me to provide him all of my banking and credit card details so
that he can monitor and track any unusual activity. I was also advised
not to make any banking or credit card transaction during these 3 days
so that proper investigation can be carried out and the unlawful
person can be intercepted should he/she use the card or make any
banking move.
I called my wife after all this ordeal informing her of what had
happened. She was highly skeptical and told me that things doesn’t
sound right as the so called Bank Negara would not have asked for all
banking details including savings/current accounts if this was just a
fraud card case. She advised me to make another call to Ambank to
check on more details of the so called Ambank Mastercard applied on
April 2nd, including to where was the credit card sent to?
I called Ambank immediately, looking for the Mr. Brandon I spoke to
earlier and the Ambank officer told me that there is no Mr. Brandon in
the Customer Service Department. I related the whole story of what had
taken place an hour earlier and the bank officer advised me to calm
down and to relax. She informs me that this is a fraud case and I need
to lodge a police report immediately. She also informs me that the
Bank Negara telephone number and extension provided to me by the Mr.
Charlie is a fake.
I was truly, truly dumbfounded!!! I have read so much about everyday
frauds and yet I still fall to this trap. I thought I was smart enough
to smell things like this but apparently, this new tactic really feeds
on human behavior when they are in a panicky situation. These guys are
really so so smooth that you tend to believe they are trying to solve
the woes that you are in.
I have been a victim and I hope it ends here. Please pass this on to
your loved ones to warn them of such a new tactic and to beware!!!!
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