Look Out For Cyber Cheats

By Arthur Edward KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 (Bernama) -- Cyber crimes such as cheating using the identity of a bank through e-mail and SMS can be avoided if the people were more careful with the state of current technology. According to the Association of Banks Malaysia (ABM) assistant general manager Joanne Wong, such cases occur when the swindler sends e-mail, SMS or make a telephone call to obtain personal details such as credit card details, password, transaction authorisation code (TAC) from victims by posing as a bank representative. She stressed that banks do not request such banking details in this way and members of the public should not entertain such requests. "Bank customers should manually type the internet address of a bank for internet banking and to prevent access from being diverted to a fake bank site, she told Bernama. She said one should look for a padlock icon in its website address to ensure the authenticity of a secured banking website. "Do not access your banking information at a cyber cafe or via wifi at public places and also make sure anti-virus and security software are regularly updated," she said. Crime Prevention Awareness Board (LKPJ) president Dr Saharuddin Awang Yahya said cyber cheating was becoming rife as the board received 300 complaints involving losses amounting to more than RM1 million from January to June this year alone. According to statistics issued by the Police Commercial CID, losses due to cyber crimes in the country last year amounted to RM1.6 billion (US$488.99 million) compared with RM1 billion (US$305.5 million) the year before. -- BERNAMA