Bank Negara Malaysia warns of email scams asking for banking information

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Email Scams

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has advised the public to be wary of phishing attempts by fraudsters using its name to deceive them into disclosing their personal banking details.

In a statement here yesterday, BNM said the intended victims would receive emails, purportedly from the bank, informing them that it was now collecting personal banking information to update its database.

“They will be prompted to either click on a link or reply to the email directly.

“Once the person clicks on the link, they would then be directed to a fake website requesting disclosure of personal financial details such as credit or debit card details including card code verification or other personal identification numbers.

“The public must ignore those emails and refrain from giving away personal banking information to anyone under any circumstance,” it said.

The central bank said financial institutions, including credit card issuers, banking institutions as well as BNM itself, would never request for personal banking information when contacting customers, be it via telephone calls, short message services (SMS) or emails.

It said the public must use web browsers that were up-to-date with built-in phishing filters.

“They must not trust emails, calls or SMS claiming cash wins or refunds and requesting personal banking information. Contact the respective banks or the Association of Banks in Malaysia’s toll-free service, ABMConnect, at 1-300-88-9980 when in doubt of the email, SMS or calls,” it said.

To get more information on financial scams activities, it said the public could visit the financial fraud alert site at http://fraudalert.bnm.gov.my.— Bernama