Have you ever had an offer of a job that you don't need to do anything except give your banking details, telephone SIM card, and ATM card to the person hiring you? I hope you didn't accept the offer. If you do, well, good luck.
Such job offers are illegal and can land you in deep trouble, the severity varying depending on the offences the person has used your account for. At best, the person or persons used the account as an illegal transit account for unlicensed online gambling proceeds or worse, for online scams, terrorism financing, or drug money.
You might find yourself prosecuted under Section 4(2) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries the penalty of jail time not exceeding 15 years and is liable for a fine of five times the value of the transactions, or RM5 million, whichever is lower.
K, an acquaintance recently found himself in this predicament. He shared his predicament with me, and I am sharing this with his consent.
Recently, B, the promoter of an unknown activity, approached K, a self-employed businessman for an easy gig. K’s wife is unemployed and his mum also depends on him too. B keeps on pressuring K to accept the job offer even though K has rebuffed the offer previously.
K, tired of B’s persistent pestering, accepted the offer. Not thinking much, K gave B his ATM card, SIM card, and access to his Internet banking.
A couple of weeks later, B told K that his account was blocked and told K to get the bank to unblock his account.
K sought my advice, and I told him to be truthful to the bank officer. I also told him to file a police report explaining his predicament and to cooperate with both the bank and the police. I also told him the possibility of B misusing his account as a transit account for scam funds.
When K heard this, he was depressed, thinking what would happen to his family. Unfortunately, what has happened has happened. I told him he should cooperate with the authorities as he is a victim. That’s the least he could do for now.
That said, this is an advice for you, the readers.
Be aware that there’s no easy money in this world. An employer at most would only require your statutory information (name, gender, IC number, EPF number, SOCSO number, and bank account number, phone number) for salary payment. They don’t need your Internet banking profile and password. Nor do they need your SIM card. The only reason why they asked for your Internet banking profile, password, and SIM card is for them to register a new device as the secure token which would allow them to approve any fund transfers from your account.
If you do find yourself or any of your acquaintances in this predicament, best to report the incident to the authority, which in this case, is the police.
One more thing you need to be aware of. These unscrupulous people may sell your information to scammers under this circumstance. At this juncture, you are vulnerable to any calls where the caller claims to be a police officer who is investigating fund transfers from your account. Should you receive such calls, proceed to the nearest police station to get help.
Good luck! You need it.
Danny Liew 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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