KUALA LUMPUR: The Communications and Multimedia Consumers Forum of Malaysia (CFM) yesterday advised consumers to be vigilant when receiving calls, SMSes and e-mail messages claiming to be from commercial banks or Bank Negara Malaysia.It issued the advice following recent comments in the media concerning credit card fraud and identity theft using mobile phones.
“There has been an increase in incidents of fraudsters making such calls and sending SMSes and e-mails to unsuspecting members of the public to fraudulently obtain their personal banking information,” it said in a statement.
It said banks did not use such practices to request for personal information but only for verification on transactions done by account holders.
CFM executive director Muhamad Tahir Muhamad Noor said banks would only ask for personal details to verify that the person calling them was actually the account holder.
“This happens only when they are called and when the caller asks for access to account information or wants to do a transaction. They never ask the caller to divulge their pin number.
“On the contrary, fraudsters will try to establish contact with potential victims and are persistent when asking for confidential information.
“Once they have sufficient information, they will be able to illegally transfer the funds out of the victim’s bank or card account or change settings such as passwords, pin numbers and so on,” he said.
He advised account holders to lodge police reports if they suspected something amiss in their bank accounts. — Bernama