Credit Card Scam « SJ Echo

Sunday, 30 August 2009

Credit Card Scam

USJ8 Chief Inspector receives call claiming he has outstanding balance to settle
IF you receive a call supposedly from a bank, watch out!
You may be the next victim of a syndicate targeting people who innocently assume the call they received is genuinely from a bank.
The latest to receive such a call is USJ8 police station Chief Inspector Loi Yew Lik who received a “call” from a “local bank” last week.
“I received a call with a voice recording of a person asking me to confirm a transaction of more than RM3,000.”
“It instructs me to Press 1 to confirm; Press 2 to speak to an officer. Most people would Press 2 to speak to the so-called officer. The person on the other line will ask you to provide your details such as your MyKad number, account number and even ATM card number,” he said.
Loi said three police reports had been made in Penang by victims of this scam, adding that the withdrawals of the funds by the suspects were made at a local bank in USJ.
“The so-called officer will tell you that you have account with the bank and he will offer you help by asking you to bank in the money in an account.”
“If you do it, the suspects will then withdraw the money via ATM and disappear,” he said, adding that he had called up the bank to check if he had any outstanding amount to settle.
Loi advised anyone receiving such a call to look out for the ‘give-away” signs – the caller’s number which appears on the mobile phone will bear “+603-xxxx xxxx”.
“Do not return call to the number which appears on your phone. Call the bank and verify,” he said.