Woman upset that banks’ fraud officers don’t work weekends

 

The scammers used the woman’s debit card details to transfer money out of her account after she had used it in an app she downloadded via a cleaning services advertisement on Instagram.

PETALING JAYA: An executive lost RM21,000 after she downloaded a home cleaning services app that fraudulently used her debit card and online banking details last weekend.

She is upset over her banks’ indifference after she was told that fraud officers were not available to look into her complaint as they did not work on weekends.

Normalina A, 37, said fraud officers from two separate banks were not available last Saturday, with customer service reps only able to block her accounts but not able to reverse the transaction or inform the recipient bank that money was wired fraudulently.

“I called one of my banks the moment I got the SMS that transfers had taken place. While they were asking me the identity verification questions, even more text messages came in informing me thousands of ringgit had been transferred.

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“They then informed me that their fraud investigators did not work on weekends, and asked me to check back the next business day,” she told FMT.

She said the other bank only blocked her account close to two hours after she made her call. Her call to the 997 National Scam Response Centre also went unanswered despite repeated attempts.

The following day, she visited one of her bank branches and discovered that about RM15,000 of her savings had been transferred out, while her other bank account was down about RM6,000.

Normalina said all this happened after she downloaded an app onto her Android phone from a cleaning services advertisement on Instagram. The ad promoted cheap house cleaners going for RM70 for three hours, with two cleaners provided for first-time users of the app.

After clicking on the ad, she was then made to download an app, where she had to pay a deposit of RM10.

“When I wanted to pay the amount through my debit card, it did not go through,” she said.

Normalina said after calling the cleaning service agent to complain, a man promised that the two cleaners would arrive the next day.

“He made it sound legit, asking me if I wanted a local or foreign cleaner,” she said. Normalina said the same cleaning service continues to be available on WhatsApp and Instagram, despite being reported to the police.

FMT is withholding the identities of the banks pending their comment. Bank Negara has also been reached for comment on the working hours for fraud officers in banks. - FMT