Kuching retiree loses over RM47,000 after scammer hacks phone via fake cleaning service ad on Facebook

KUCHING (March 7): A 78-year-old retired civil servant lost more than RM47,000 after a scammer allegedly hacked into her phone and siphoned money from her bank accounts.

The victim, identified only as Tan, said the incident began on Feb 8, shortly before Chinese New Year, when she came across a house-cleaning advertisement on Facebook under the name “DC Cleaning Service”.

Enticed by the low rate of RM16 to RM17 per hour, she clicked on the link and was soon contacted by a man claiming to represent the service.

Tan said the suspect asked her to complete a form through a website link to apply for a cleaner. As the form was in Chinese, which she could not understand, he later sent her an English version to download.

However, when the download took too long, the suspect instructed her to change several settings on her phone while they remained on a call that lasted nearly two hours.

“My phone suddenly went black and I didn’t realise he was hacking it,” she recounted during a press conference at the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Public Complaints Bureau here.

After ending the call, Tan later discovered that funds from four of her bank accounts had been transferred out.

She managed to withdraw money from another account containing her pension before it could be accessed.

Meanwhile, SUPP Public Complaints Bureau chief Milton Foo urged Parliament to amend the Financial Services Act 2013 to compel banks to strengthen security for online transactions.

He also proposed implementing facial or thumbprint authentication for ATM withdrawals and called for stronger action against mule accounts used to siphon victims’ funds.

“Banks should also be held accountable if adequate safeguards against online fraud are not in place,” he said.

Also present at the press conference was community leader Kapitan Tan Keng Yew.