KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The staff at a Maybank branch in Kampung Baru, Penang, exhibited remarkable vigilance recently, intervening to thwart a potential loss of RM150,000 to a phone scam targeting a 57-year-old civil servant, the bank revealed today. According to Malayan Banking Bhd, the individual, identified as Fatimah, had received fraudulent calls purportedly from a bank representative alleging fraudulent activity in her account.
The scammer orchestrated a sophisticated ruse, involving impersonation of officials from enforcement agencies like the Royal Malaysia Police and Bank Negara Malaysia, to manipulate Fatimah into withdrawing the said sum. During a phone call spanning over four hours, Fatimah was coerced by the scammers into withdrawing RM150,000 from her savings account at the Maybank Kampung Baru branch in Penang. However, the branch’s assistant manager grew suspicious and intervened, guiding Fatimah through the process of filing a case report and promptly freezing her account to safeguard her funds.
Grateful for the swift action and support received, Fatimah commended the assistant manager for her exceptional dedication, which ultimately thwarted the scam despite relentless attempts by the fraudster to disrupt the proceedings. Maybank, echoing the importance of vigilance, urged the public to stay informed about evolving scam tactics and encouraged individuals to seek assistance from their banks if they suspect fraudulent activity. In a testament to its commitment to customer protection, Maybank reported saving customers from losing RM6.4 million to various scams in 2023 alone.
