Businessman loses more than RM200,000 of savings through malware scam

JOHOR BARU: A businessman lost more than RM200,000 of his savings by downloading a malware application on his mobile phone.

The 47-year-old man who only wanted to be known as Lee, said that he came across the app after planning a cruise trip to Singapore together with his wife and three children on March 8.

“I initially planned to bring my family on a three-day, two-night cruise in Singapore during the Hari Raya school holiday.

“I was at home in Skudai when I came across a Facebook advertisement. I then came into contact with a Singapore registered number asking for my personal details and informing me that no payment was needed until the day I board the cruise.

“The person then gave me a link to an application to verify my order; however, after downloading the application, my phone suddenly shut down and would often turn off on its own,” he said.

He said this during a press conference organised by Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah at his office in Taman Daya, here, on Wednesday (May 15).

On March 17, Lee shared that he tried to open his bank account to make financial transactions on his phone but could not do so.

“I then logged in using a laptop, where I noticed my savings had been deducted and there were financial transfers amounting to RM175,000 to a few unknown accounts.

“Similar transactions have also been made using my credit card account from a different bank, worth RM35,420,” he said, adding that he lost a total of RM210,420 of his savings.

Lee added that what shocked him the most was that no single one-time password or approval was received during this transaction.

“I called the National Scam Response Centre at 997 but found out that the call can only be made during working days and office hours,” he added.

Meanwhile, Puah said there should be a scam centre office in Johor to address all scam cases in the state, as many scam cases have been reported.

“The stolen money was a loan the victim had made from banks, which means he now owes the banks money.

“I believed banks should set up a scam centre to help victims like Lee,” he added.

Puah added that he is planning to bring the matter to Bank Negara to seek out answers on how to prevent such cases from happening in the future.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru North OCPD Asst Comm Balveer Singh has confirmed receiving a police report on the matter.