Insurance agent left in shock over RM1 bank balance

JOHOR BAHRU - An insurance agent was left in shock after his bank account was hacked and RM11,092 was lost following four transactions without his knowledge on May 20.

The victim Koo Kah Peng, 53, claimed that the four transactions were transferred to one bank account under the name of Nicholas.

"I don't know who Nicholas is. I realised this while checking my bank account balance online at 11am last May 20, when I was at my family's house in Taman Pelangi Indah here.

"The last time I checked the bank account balance was a day prior. At first, I thought I had lost my bank card, but I found that my card was not lost," he said.

He said this after reporting the matter to Johor Jaya DAP secretary Mok Meng Haw at his office on Monday.

Koo added that he then went to the bank to get an explanation before showing the transaction records to the unknown bank account.

"There is a record of applications for transaction verification code numbers (TAC), money transfers, and applications to change money transfer limits.

"All transactions took place within six minutes, between 10.19am and 10.25am involving RM11,092," he said.

The father of three said that all transactions were made to the personal account of an unknown man named Nicholas.

Besides lodging a report at Pelangi Indah police station on May 20, he also reported the matter to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

"It is my salary that should be used for family expenses, including my three children who are in school. I never thought I would be a victim.

"The bank management said that they are still carrying out investigations even though it is proven that all of them happened as a result of the weak bank security system, especially internet banking," he said.

Meanwhile, Mok said that banks need to improve security aspects, especially in terms of customer data protection, because such cases involving scammers often take place.

"Even bank customers should also be more careful not to download an application without knowing detailed information about it," he said.