TANGKAK: Began with a phone call. A man claiming to be a "police officer" told 55-year-old Sophie (not her real name) that her bank account was "under investigation" for money laundering.
Worried and wanting to cooperate with the man on the other end of the line, Sophie followed the instructions given to her; the caller asked her to register a new phone number on her mobile banking application.
Sophie was told that she needed to replace her number on the mobile banking app with one that was given to her by the "police officer" to "facilitate investigations".
Within days of adding the number to her account, Sophie lost RM70,000, a fact she discovered only when she tried to withdraw money.
She was stunned.
She had not authorised any online transactions or cash transfers, and although she still had the app, she had not received any alerts.
It was only then Sophie realised she had been duped, becoming a victim of what is known as the "SIM swap" scam.
This method enables scammers to access unsuspecting victims' mobile banking applications, allowing them to intercept security codes, one-time passwords and notifications, faci-litating unauthorised withdrawals.
On Nov 22, Sophie lodged a report. District police chief Superintendent Roslan Mohd Talib confirmed that police have recieved her report.