Another bank scam case resulting in unauthorised withdrawal of money from the account of an individual up to a total of RM34,000.
This afternoon, my assistant Michael Kong and I brought a victim of a bank scam to Sg Maong Police Station to help in the investigation of the case, in the hope that the victim can recover her loss. In this case, the victim had accounts with Maybank and another local bank. The unauthorised withdrawals happened on 18.5.2022, and she had duly notified the bank and lodged police report the next day.
In July, Maybank had helped her to recover the RM10,000 which she lost to the unauthorised withdrawal scam. However, till this day, the other local bank refused to return the money that she lost to the scam.
Beside helping in the police investigation, I have also helped the victim to correspond with the bank and Bank Negara Malaysia.
It is most unacceptable that money in the bank can be stolen with such ease and the banking institutions and the authorities are not doing its best to prevent such scams from continuing to victimise the people.
When even keeping one’s money with the banks are not safe, where else can the public safely keep their life-time savings? A government that cannot ensure the safety of the money of depositors with the banks is definitely a failed government.
So far, the Bank Negara Malaysia is playing a very passive role in these bank scam cases, merely leaving it to the banks to deal with their victimised customers, and in most cases, the individuals are cowed by the might of these banking institutions to swallow their losses.
Contrary to such passive stand of the BNM, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has, in May this year, ordered OCBC Singapore to increase its capital by S$330 million due to its deficiency in the bank’s handling of bank scam cases. Why can’t the BNM be more pro-active and effective in protecting the depositors’ interest?
My assistant and I will continue to assist the victim to recover her loss.
Meanwhile, unless the BNM steps in to impose more heavy duties on the banks to improve its internet banking facilities, more will fall victims to such scammers.