On the night of July 17, as I was going through my routine of checking my digital banking account online, I spotted eight suspicious transactions, all of which were payment for “Google Tik Tok Videos" from my physical debit card.
I quickly checked my wallet and was relieved to see my debit card still lying safely there.
Seven of the transactions were for a small amount of RM 2.64 each while one was for RM 5.37.
I also noticed that several of the transactions were carried out within a span of a few minutes.
Although the amount was not significant, it did raise some red flags.
It smelt foul of a fraudulent use of my debit card. The culprit must be probably testing the waters with small amounts before going for the big kill.
I went straight into the chat box of the digital banking apps to lodge an official complaint.
Even while the chat was progressing with the online customer service assistant from 9.56 pm to 10.18 pm , the ninth fraudulent transaction came in at 9.57 pm notifying me through the apps that another RM 2.64 was charged to my debit card for the use of Google Tik Tok Videos.
The customer service assistant advised me to cancel the debit card immediately which I agreed.
She then told me that the case will be sent to her team for further investigations.
As all the nine transactions were under “processing” status, I was told to monitor the status and that I should lodged another formal complaint only when the transactions were “completed”.
The transactions remained in processing status for the entire following day on July 18.
On the morning of July 19, I noticed that all the transactions have turned into “completed” status which means it was confirmed that I will be charged for the nine transactions.
I still find it hard to understand why the bank did not take immediate action when I lodged the complaint on July 17 and had to wait for the suspicious transactions to turn into “completion” status two days later.
Once again I went into the apps chat box to lodge a formal complaint on July 19.
This time the chat was even more intriguing . The customer service assistant acknowledged my complaint and told me that the bank will need 50 business days to conduct an investigation for EACH transaction under dispute.
With nine transactions, it would mean I have to give them 450 days to investigate the nine fraudulent transactions involving a total sum of RM 26.49.
How ridiculous can it get ….
Something is seriously wrong with the efficiency and standard operating procedures of the bank.
Only after I threatened to report them to Bank Negara for such ridiculousness did they relent and promise to resolve my case within 14 to 30 business days.
This encounter of mine underscores the importance of Bank Negara to draw up policies that protect the rights of banking customers.
How efficient and fair can our banking system be if they need 50 business days to conduct a fraudulent investigation ?
Banking customers are at the mercy of the financial institutions when it comes to genuine fraud cases.
It is high time that Bank Negara steps in with more assistance for fraud victims.
Many of them have very little resources or knowledge to follow up with their cases. All they could do is to wait for an outcome that lies solely on the prerogative of the bank.
As for my case, I am still not sure if the bank will keep to its words of resolving it within 30 days or I have to wait for 450 days.
Fortunately the sum involved was only RM 26.49. I sympathise with the countless victims out there who suffered losses of much larger amount through no fault of theirs.
Their hard earned savings could well be needed urgently to put food on their tables.
I hope the government will be quick to understand the plight of its people and come up with measures to help these poor folks, in particular those senior citizens and illiterates caught up in the current frenzied technological era.
Vincent Lim (limhockmian@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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