Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Saturday, 23 January 2021 00:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Central Bank this week issued a public warning after it received information regarding several types of financial frauds and scams being operated through social media, internet-based applications and mobile payment applications.
Most of these scams are conducted through web or mobile app-based easy loan schemes that attract the public, the Central Bank said in a statement. During such loan application evaluation processes, the fraudsters entice the public to share confidential personal customer information/data, including credit or debit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), card verification digits commonly found at the back of the card and referred to as CVV, CVC or CVS numbers, card expiry date, transaction verification information, such as One-Time-Passwords (OTPs) and usernames for internet and mobile banking.
The public are strongly advised to exercise due diligence and care to avoid becoming victims of the scams operating in the guise of money-lending businesses, obtain full information of the financial transaction and the lending party before entering into an agreement, conduct financial transactions with regulated/authorised entities, be extremely vigilant when dealing with easy/instant loan schemes and avoid entering into agreements of which the terms and conditions are difficult to understand.
The statement also wanted the public to be cautious when applying for easy/instant loan schemes, especially if they have attractive slogans which lure customers in, such as zero interest for the first loan, extremely high interest rates even though the initial interest rates may be low, advertised as requiring no/less documentation, adequate information of the money lenders cannot be found, and loan extensions can be requested and are granted at any time despite the circumstances.
People should also be wary if loans are advertised as giving quick approval and ask for the consent to access the contact list, photographs, files and documents in their clients’ phones.
The Central Bank strongly advises the public to be watchful about these frauds and scams and not to share any confidential information, especially account usernames, passwords, PINs, OTPs or other information required for account verification, with anyone and not to give consent to money lenders to access information stored in the phone.
Further, the Central Bank wishes to request the public to obtain real-time notification services, such as SMS alerts, from their banks or non-bank financial institutions, so that they could be made aware of any fraudulent activity that takes place using their accounts instantly.
