Bank Negara Malaysia would like to caution members of the public on the recent modus operandi by persons impersonating as officials from Bank Negara Malaysia, commercial bank or a government agency (including the Police or the Inland Revenue Department).

These fraudsters aim to deceive the public into transferring money to unknown third party accounts purportedly for Bank Negara Malaysia's safekeeping. These fraudulent activities are promoted through telephone calls, SMS, emails or other forms of communication. The modus operandi is as attached.

Members of the public are advised to stay alert when receiving any unsolicited telephone calls, SMS or e-mails. They should not respond to any such unsolicited contact. Bank Negara Malaysia will never ask individuals to transfer money for safekeeping. 

Bank Negara Malaysia advises members of the public to protect themselves and exercise due caution by taking the following actions:

(1) Do not disclose your personal financial information to any party.
(2) Do not transfer your money to unknown third party accounts.
(3) Always check with the commercial bank to establish the identity of the unknown third party accounts to avoid being cheated.

Members of the public can contact directly to Bank Negara Malaysia at:

BNMTELELINK (Customer Contact Centre)
Tel: 1-300-88-5465
Fax: (03)2174 1515
Email: [email protected]

To submit enquiries or complaints via SMS, type BNM TANYA [your enquiry/complaint] send to 15888

For more information on financial scams activities, visit the financial fraud alert site at http://fraudalert.bnm.gov.my or engage with us on facebook at http://facebook.com/bnm.official

Attachment

Modus Operandi

• Victim receives SMS or telephone call to confirm a credit card transaction purportedly charged to the victim’s credit card
• When victim calls the telephone number provided in the SMS, the fraudsters will identify themselves as agents of a commercial bank and request victim to provide their full name and IC number for verification
• Upon verification, the fraudster will request the victim to confirm whether the credit card transaction had taken place
• When victim deny the transactions, the fraudster will advise the victim to lodge a report with Bank Negara Malaysia’s “Unit Kad Kredit Palsu”, or with the commercial bank’s “credit card management department”.  The fraudster will provide the victim with the telephone number of the “Unit Kad Kredit Palsu”
• When the victim calls the number provided, the call will be answered by someone claiming to be a Bank Negara Malaysia officer.  This ‘officer’ will then request for information relating to the victim’s banking and credit card accounts
• The fraudster will then instruct the victim to transfer money over the counter or via ATM to a third party account in the pretext of safeguarding the victim’s money and for investigation purposes
• The fraudster will instruct the victim not to inform anybody as this may jeopardise the investigation