Bank Negara, Malaysia: SMS scams mostly caused to unauthorized withdrawals

According to Bank Negara experts in Malaysia SMS scams tied to unauthorized withdrawals. Usually SMS scams inform victims they have won cash prizes. Last year it was received 165 complaints on illegal withdrawals by central bank, all of which were due to customers knowingly or unknowingly divulging personal information such as their personal identification number (PIN) and password to third parties or fraudsters. The Bank Negara's authorities assured that the banks would never request for such personal information through e-mail, SMS or phone calls. And it is highly recommended not to respond to any SMS or e-mail requesting personal information for banking accounts.

The process of such scamming works the following way. The victims of unauthorized withdrawals receive an unidentified SMS to inform them they have won a cash prize and that they have to open an Internet banking account to claim it. After that the victim contacts the fraudster, who provides a step-by-step guide on how to register and activate their Internet banking account using the ATM terminal. The following step is to get an Internet banking PIN number which the fraudster would ask for to create the online banking account. And the last requirement is when the victim would be asked to register the fraudster's handphone number to obtain an authorization code to enable transfer of funds via Internet banking. In the result the authorization code being sent via SMS directly to the fraudster's handphone will give full access to their banking account.