Scams are becoming increasingly common in Malaysia, with many such cases being reported in the news involving sophisticated social media syndicates. But equally common are ones that occur in bank premises, especially near ATM machines.
Unfortunately in the case for one Malaysian retiree, he would find himself falling victim to one such scheme, leading to substantial losses.
Scammer ‘helps’ M’sian retiree with his debit card that was stuck in the ATM machine
On March 28, Twitter user @paizmuhdd took to social media to expose a scam tactic that he had fallen victim to. At the time of the incident, he said that he was approached by a couple who was lining up behind him after he experienced difficulties while using an ATM machine upon inserting his card.
However, the couple then ‘miraculously’ managed to retrieve what they claim to be the man’s ATM card, before handing it to him. But as it turns out, this was all part of their scheme.
He went on to explain that the scammers had already rendered the ATM machine inoperable beforehand, and would target unsuspecting victims who attempted to use it, knowing that their cards would wind up jammed inside. When the victim was no longer able to retrieve their card, the scammers would then approach them and pretend to try assisting the victim, before replacing their ATM card with a duplicate.
“They would then try to remember your pin number and your card would be stuck in the ATM machine as they’ve damaged the machine”, he said.
The scammers would then use the victim’s legitimate ATM card over the weekend, as they know that the victim would not be able to obtain a replacement card from their bank in that time.
Went on a RM46,000 shopping spree
In his case, the scammers wound up going on a massive shopping spree using his debit card and racked up a total of RM46,000 through 23 different transactions between the 25th, 26th, and 27th of March.
One of the transactions included the purchase of an iPhone 13 Pro Max at a telecommunications store located in Kapar, where the duo, who are revealed as a couple with an infant child, were captured on CCTV camera.
Source: Twitter
The police have since released a statement addressing the matter, and confirms that a 62-year-old retiree had indeed made a police report after losing his debit card to scammers using the method described.
Source: Facebook
With that said, the victim has urged local social media users not to fault neither the bank nor the sales attendants working at the telecommunications store, as they have done all they could to assist him in the incident. Here’s to hoping that the couple are brought to justice over their crime.
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