Malaysians tend to opt for home-cooked food deliveries due to the lack of time to prepare meals themselves. Though, sadly, there appears to be an irresponsible party using the guise of a home-cooked food delivery service to scam others.
Michael Kong Feng Nian, the Special Assistant to Stampin Member of Parliament (MP) Chong Chieng Jen, shared how an elderly woman, known as Madam Chan, had her phone and bank accounts hacked after a simple WhatsApp call with an alleged home-cooked food vendor she stumbled upon on Facebook.
“Recently, Madam Chan came across an advertisement on Facebook promoting home-cooked food. Upon expressing interest, she contacted the alleged vendor via a WhatsApp call. During the call, the individual insisted on sending her a menu but Madam Chan declined as she already had a specific dish in mind,”
“When the vendor persisted, she ended the call out of frustration. However, within minutes, Madam Chan noticed that her phone began behaving abnormally. Shortly after, her son informed her that multiple contacts had received messages from her number, requesting money,” he explained.
Her phone wasn’t the only thing they hacked
Upon hearing of the messages sent from her number, Madam Chan contacted her bank and discovered 3 unauthorised transactions from her savings account as well as an unauthorised transaction from her credit card account.
She lodged a dispute with her bank but her claim was rejected on the basis that her User ID and password were used to access her account and that her device may have been compromised due to malware.
“This explanation is deeply unsatisfactory. Madam Chan has categorically stated that she did not download any applications or click into any links. The only interaction she had was a WhatsApp call with the alleged scammer,”
“This raises serious concerns about the evolving tactics of scammers, who may now be capable of exploiting vulnerabilities through seemingly harmless interactions such as calls or social media engagement,” Michael added.
MP Chong Chieng Jen’s team is now assisting Madam Chan in lodging an appeal with the Financial Markets Ombudsman Services, to challenge the bank’s decision and seek a fair resolution.
Members of the public are also urged to exercise extreme caution when interacting with advertisements on social media platforms as even seemingly legitimate offers may be entry points for scammers.
Source: Facebook
