It never hurts to be too careful nowadays with so many data leaks going on in Malaysia. For example, AirAsia was hacked, iPay88 card data was compromised, and voter data is being sold online, among other things. So, whenever you receive an SMS or a call allegedly from an organization, company, or someone, you need to be very cautious not to give out sensitive personal information. But one guy made a big mistake, and it was too late for him.
A Twitter user, @loookskywalker, clicked a suspicious link in an SMS and it cost him dearly.
It all started with him receiving an SMS from 62000 regarding Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM). The message stated that he will receive RM 1,000 Touch ‘n Go (TnG) eWallet credit and asked him to click the link to update his information.
He thought it was legit, so he clicked it and a few seconds later, he received OTP notifications and notifications from MAE (Maybank’s app), saying that he has top-up RM 1,500 into his eWallet.
Sensing that something is wrong, he immediately changed his eWallet PIN number. However, it was too late, as the cyber thief has already ran away with more than RM1,000.
He went and made a police report and called Maybank to block his account afterward. He also called TnG customer service, but the company said they couldn’t refund him because he clicked the link and thus “authorised” the transactions. TnG also said they will block his account for 180 days.
But here is the plot twist, he said he found out later that his eWallet account’s reloading function has been set to “Auto-debit”, which means his account was set to “Auto-reload” and he claimed he doesn’t know how.
If someone set the reload function to “Auto-reload”, the user will only require to give an authorisation for the initial setup. After that one-time authorisation, for subsequent reloads, TnG or the bank will no longer ask for any authorisation.
The BKM is only for eligible individuals and families and the money will be transferred to the recipient’s bank account. The government will never transfer money via TnG eWallet.
Be careful not to click any links you received. If you don’t know what it is, call and ask for verification from the company first.
