THREE (3) local financial companies combined, facilitated bank scams and left a 75-year-old lady with a RM15,000 credit card debt. These 3 companies are Maybank Berhad, TNG-Ewallet and BigPay Malaysia, all regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), but when scam occurred involving the accounts of the 3 companies, BNM washed its hands of the matter and took no responsibilities.
The poor old lady not only was penalised with a debt of RM15,000, but even her meagre savings of RM1,350 and her STR (Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah) RM300.00 received in September and December 2024 were deducted by Maybank to partially payoff her Credit Card debt.
The facts of the matter are as follows:
1. On 22.4.2024 @ around 1:30 p.m., Mdm Hii received a scam call.
2. After speaking to the caller of the Scam Call, Mdm Hii realised that it might be a scam and thus she immediately went to the Maybank (Jalan Song Thian Cheok, Kuching) to inform of the suspected scam and request for stopping whatever transactions charged to her Credit Card.
3. Mdm Hii was informed by the officer at Maybank then that there was no transaction recorded in the system.
4. Nevertheless, Mdm Hii terminated the Credit Card.
5. In May, 2024, Mdm Hii found out from her Bank Statement that she was charged with 2 scam transactions, namely paid to RM4,949 to TNG-Ewallet and RM9,948.50 to BigPay Malaysia
6. Despite her protests to Maybank and filing of the dispute form in respect of the said scam transactions with Maybank, Maybank refused to cancel the amount.
7. Subsequently, Maybank without Mdm Hi’s authorisation, deducted RM1,350 from Mdm Hii’s savings account with Maybank.
8. Mdm Hii then withdrew all her savings from the Maybank account to avoid further unauthorised deduction by Maybank.
9. Thereafter, sometime in September and December, 2024 when the Government gave Mdm Hii RM150.00 each under the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) 2024 program, Maybank did not allow Mdm Hii to withdrew the STR payment but instead, arbitrarily transferred the sum to pay the scam transactions.
In January, 2025, worried about the Credit Card debt, she came to seek my assistance and I helped her to write a letter to complain against the short-comings in Maybank’s system causing the scam and the loss. These short-comings are:
1. The scam transactions were reported to Maybank within ONE HOUR and yet Maybank allowed the transactions to go through (Note that when Mdm Hii reported to Maybank branch on the transactions, the bank’s system has not even recorded the transactions).
2. Upon being informed of the scam transactions and despite Mdm Hii having cancelled her Credit Card on 22.4.2024, Maybank’s officer did not take any action to stop the transactions and on the contrary, allowed the scam transactions to go through.
3. Despite Mdm Hii’s immediate action in reporting the scam to Maybank, there was no immediate action taken by Maybank to inform the National Scam Response Centre to freeze the scam transactions.
4. Maybank did not take immediate action to inform TNG-Ewallet and BigPay of the scam transactions until sometime in May, 2024 when Mdm Hii went to Maybank again.
In February, 2025, Maybank denied responsibility but failed to explain why complain was lodged with ONE HOUR of the scam and yet it allowed the scam charge to go through without informing the 2 e-wallet companies. It also failed to explain why it did not inform the 2 e-wallet companies of the scam transaction upon first available time.
Both TNG-Ewallet and BigPay were also at fault for allowing such scammers to benefit from their scamming activities using their accounts with the 2 e-wallet companies.
If e-wallet companies were so irresponsible as to allow scammers to use their platforms and after being informed of the scams, continue to take no action for the return of the scammed proceeds, such e-wallet companies ought to CEASE to OPERATE. Their continued existence will only facilitate and encourage more scam activities and made more people falling into such scams.
On the part of BNM which is the regulatory body for both banks and e-wallet companies, it is most unacceptable that no punitive against was taken against these e-wallet companies and banks for allowing the scammers to use their platform to scam unsuspecting rakyat.
As Mdm Hii is a B40 lady of the age of 75, she has not the resources to pay the Credit Card debt. In addition, as a law-abiding citizen, she is worried about the Credit Card debt. To put an old lady to such stress and worries after she was scammed, it is thus a sin for BNM to sit back and take no action and for the bank and the 2 e-wallet companies to act as if no scam has been committed.
The least that Maybank should do is to cancel off her Credit Card debt and take up a legal action against TNG-Ewallet and Big Pay.
Meanwhile, I will continue to push for reform in the financial sector so that financial providers will act more responsibly and accountably to the common people.
