KUALA LUMPUR: Students are not the only gullible ones who fall prey to scam syndicates offering easy money in return for using their bank accounts and credit cards.
For many years, many adults have also found themselves in trouble with the law after providing mule accounts for syndicates to commit crime.
One victim speaking to the New Straits Times said he had no idea that his bank account was being used for dubious transactions after taking a loan from a loan shark (Ah Long).
The victim, who only wanted to be known as Mustafa, said his ordeal began towards the end of 2018, when the company he worked for decided to close down.
"All of us were given a small compensation and had to look for another job. My commitments were quite high back then because I just got married and my wife was expecting our first child.
"I tried to find a job but the salary was very low, and without much choice, I turned to an Ah Long to borrow some money ahead of our baby's birth.
"The man told me that I needed to surrender my bank card if I wanted the loan," he said.
Mustafa said he decided to take up the loan due to desperation.
"The Ah Long charged me 20 per cent interest for a RM5,000 loan and only gave me RM4,200 after he obtained my bank card and ATM pin number.
"He changed my online banking password and told me that he would deduct the repayments from my bank account every month on my payday.
"The balance, he said, would be transferred to another account number that I provided him," added the 35-year-old architectural engineer from Gombak.
Fortunately, he said within a month, he managed to get a good job and settled his debt with the Ah Long within four months.
"My life was improving financially and everything was going fine until last year, when a team of policemen from Skudai, Johor, came looking for me and accused me of being involved in a scam.
"I had no idea what was going on and they (the policemen) kept saying that I had cheated a couple of RM30,000 in a fake investment plan.
"They told me to follow them to the station in Skudai. During interrogation, the officers showed me a statement from the bank account that I provided the Ah Long, and said I had withdrawn the money from a few ATMs between January and February 2019," he said,
He added that two reports had been lodged against his bank account number.
Mustafa, who claimed that he did not have any criminal record, said after settling his loan, he did remember that his bank account and ATM card were held by the Ah Long.
But he failed to close the account because he was not aware of the future implications.
"I showed the investigation officer (IO) whatever proof I had on my phone, including the Ah Long's phone number. But all that was not good enough to avoid being charged as a mule account holder.
"Apparently, it was my fault for giving my ATM card to another person. The IO said I could have been in cahoots with the scammers and benefited from the transactions that took place," said the father-of-two in an interview with the New Straits Times.
Rueing the day he took the loan, Mustafa, who now has a criminal record, claimed that he was convicted by the court anyway and fined RM2,500 for an offence that he had nothing to do with.
Another victim, Mega, 38, is an online retailer based in Sentul.
She said her kind intention to help foreign students 10 years ago backfired when she learnt that her bank account had been misused to carry out transactions related to online scams.
Mega said back then, she was working in an English language centre where she often had to assist foreign students in their fee payments.
She said the foreign students sometimes would seek her help in borrowing her ATM card to withdraw money to pay their fees, saying that they had issues with their bank accounts.
"I remember I helped them about two or three times. I gave them my bank card for them to withdraw their money because I had no balance in that account and I was confident that nothing could go wrong.
"I did that out of my good intention to help them, but little did I know that it would jeopardise my career in the future," she said to the New Straits Times.
Mega said there were suspicious signs a few years after she quit her job at the language centre.
One day, she tried to use her bank card to withdraw money, but it was declined. She immediately went to the bank for assistance.
"I told them about the problem I faced and asked if they could renew or open a new account for me. But the officer at the bank said they can't do so and did not provide me any further clarification," she said, adding that she did not follow-up on the matter due to a lack of information and urgency.
Two more years passed and she suddenly received a summons from the Dang Wangi police station over a scam syndicate.
Upon arrival, she learnt that someone had used her bank account as a "mule account" to conduct illegal transactions.
"The police told me that my bank account has been used in a love scam, where the scammer coaxed a woman to transfer money to the said account.
"I was shocked to learn that, especially when they told me that the victim had made a complaint in the10 years span of time since I quit my job at the language centre.
"I asked the police why they did not reach out to me earlier and they did not have an answer for it," she said.
Mega added that the police revealed that her account had been used for scams in two locations, one in Johor Baru and another in Bangsar here.
She said she now realised why the bank had frozen her account two years ago, and she was also angry that the officers did not tell her the reason.
Mega said the police further asked her to admit to the crime, but she refused to do so.
"The police after recording my statement told me to admit to the crime, but I refused as I was also a victim in this case, I wasn't aware I had become part of a scam syndicate.
"I consulted the Legal Aid Bureau and they also advised me to just plead guilty if I did not want to go through a long court process," she said.
Mega said the ordeal had exhausted her mentally and she felt she was on an emotional roller-coaster the whole time until the case was resolved in court.
"Although I spent just a brief moment in the court lock-up, it is something I still dread talking about," she said.
Despite the case being resolved with just a fine, she said she could no longer be employed in any financial institution due to her record.