New Fraud Tactic To Get Information

Dear friends,

Beware of a new fraud tactic. This just unbelievably happened to me yesterday (June 3rd 2009). It made me went on a round of frenzies to lodge report at a police station, canceling all my credit cards and changing all my savings/current accounts.

At around 1pm yesterday, I received a call from an Ambank number which went into an automated machine informing me that I was about to make a payment amounting to RM3,800.60 and to press 1 to confirm the
transaction or press 9 to speak to Customer Service. Caught by surprise of such a call, I pressed 9 to speak to their Customer Service. A guy by the name of Brandon answered and questioned me whether I am about to make a RM3,800.60 payment which I said no. He later asked whether I am now at KLIA. I straight away told him no and that I am now at Kulim, Kedah. This Brandon guy then said that this looks like a scam and he will immediately stop the RM3,800.60 transaction.

He further asked me whether I had recently applied for any credit card which I said no. He informs me that there was an application for an Ambank Mastercard under my name dated April 2nd 2009 with a credit limit of RM10k and to date, the card has been used up to about RM5,600++. He further advised me to immediately lodge a report with Bank Negara's Pusat Pengurusan Kad Kredit Palsu. I do not have the number and he offered to connect me to Bank Negara where I spoke to another guy named Charlie.

The call sounded really authentic and this Charlie guy pretended not knowing anything and had me told him the story of what happened from A to Z. Once I finished with my story, this Charlie guy asked me whether do I suspect any close family members or friends misusing my personal data for this purpose. He says it could be possible and it is very important that I do not reveal a single thing to anybody until 6th June 2009 (3 days) in order for the investigation to take place. He asked me to provide him all of my banking and credit card details so that he can monitor and track any unusual activity. I was also advised not to make any banking or credit card transaction during these 3 days so that proper investigation can be carried out and the unlawful person can be intercepted should he/she use the card or make any banking move.

I called my wife after all this ordeal informing her of what had happened. She was highly skeptical and told me that things doesn't sound right as the so called Bank Negara would not have asked for all banking details including savings/current accounts if this was just a fraud card case. She advised me to make another call to Ambank to check on more details of the so called Ambank Mastercard applied on April 2nd, including to where was the credit card sent to?

I called Ambank immediately, looking for the Mr. Brandon I spoke to earlier and the Ambank officer told me that there is no Mr. Brandon in the Customer Service Department. I related the whole story of what had
taken place an hour earlier and the bank officer advised me to calm down and to relax. She informs me that this is a fraud case and I need to lodge a police report immediately. She also informs me that the Bank Negara telephone number and extension provided to me by the Mr. Charlie is a fake.

I was truly, truly dumbfounded!!! I have read so much about everyday frauds and yet I still fall to this trap. I thought I was smart enough to smell things like this but apparently, this new tactic really feeds on human behavior when they are in a panicky situation. These guys are really so so smooth that you tend to believe they are trying to solve the woes that you are in.

I have been a victim and I hope it ends here. Please pass this on to your loved ones to warn them of such a new tactic and to beware!!!!


Sincerely,
Joe (4th June 2009)