Woman Gets RM4,700 Stolen From Bank Account After Installing Cleaning Services App
The victim was lured by an advertisement on Facebook offering RM50 cleaning services for five hours.
By Hafiz Zainuddin — 19 Jul 2022, 05:02 PM
A 46-year-old woman recently lost RM4,700 from her bank account after downloading an Android Package Kit (APK) file
The victim, from Kuala Sungai Baru in Melaka, was initially enticed by an advertisement offering house cleaning services at RM50 for five hours on Facebook.
She was soon contacted by a person who introduced herself as 'Fiona' and instructed to download the 'shinecleanmaid' app via a link provided by the suspect, as reported by Free Malaysia Today.
After filling in her details in the cleaning app, the victim was requested to pay an advance fee of RM10
Upon making the transaction, it did not go through. According to a statement by Melaka police chief Datuk Zainol Samah, the victim was then asked to pay in cash after the cleaning service was done, as reported by The Star.
30 minutes later, however, the victim got a notification informing her that a transaction of RM4,700 was made from her account to a third party account without her knowledge and consent.
That was when the victim realised she got scammed, and quickly lodged a report at at the Kuala Sungai Baru police station
The police chief said that the case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
According to Zainol, the Melaka Contingent has only received one case involving this particular scam tactic, but still advises the public to be wary of online offers provided by unverified parties.
"As a precautionary measure, people are asked not to easily believe advertisements on social media, and not to download or install APKs sent directly to the phone by unknown individuals," he said, according to Free Malaysia Today.
All in all, it's always better to be safe than sorry. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
While most of us enjoy finding products and services at discounted prices, it's important to practise caution when dealing with anything you find from the internet.
Verify the validity of the vendors that offer these promotions and never share personal information or click on any suspicious links online.
If you need assistance or think that you have been scammed, contact:
1. Your local police authorities to file a scam report.
2. Bank Negara Malaysia for financial scams, contact them at 1-300-88-5465 (1-300-88-LINK).
3. MCMC for cyber scams, contact them at 1-800-188-030.
4. KPDNHEP for consumer-related scams, contact them at 1 800 886 800.
