Singapore businessman Abdul Aleem Sem criticised the Malaysian police and a prominent local bank for dragging their feet despite a complaint lodged in September last year.
PETALING JAYA: A Singaporean businessman lost about RM7,000 last year through a scam after his e-mail correspondence with his supplier was intercepted by a cyber criminal.
Adding salt to injury, the businessman alleged that the Malaysian police and a prominent local bank which held the perpetrator’s bank account did not take any action against the latter.
“The report was lodged in September last year but till today the police and the bank failed to address my grievances. Even my letters to Bank Negara went unanswered,” said Abdul Aleem Sem.
Relating his ordeal, Aleem, 55, who runs a medical equipment business in the island state, said that on Sept 16 last year, the scammer had imitated their supplier’s contact person Coco Zou after hacking his company’s e-mail correspondence with the supplier, based in Shanghai, China.
“The scammer used an almost identical e-mail of our supplier and started telling us to credit payment to a bank account in Puchong instead of the usual Chinese bank,” Aleem said, adding that the scammer had even imitated the supplier’s invoice number.
The bank account in Puchong was registered under the name of Maria Dass A/ John.
After making payments on Sept 20, Aleem suspected something was amiss when their supplier claimed that they had yet to receive the payment.
“I called Zou for clarification and it was then I realised that we got conned,” he said.
Following this, Aleem lodged a report with the police here and the Puchong branch of the bank on Sept 29.
He also lodged a complaint with the Singaporean police and Bank Negara the following day.
He said that it had been months now but the police had yet to take any action.
Still waiting for justice
Asked if he had checked with the local bank, Aleem said he sent various letters and contacted the bank involved but received no favourable answer.
“They said Maria Dass took out the money and closed his account a couple of days after the transaction was made. They just washed their hands off,” he said.
On his next course of action, Aleem said he would seek legal redress against the bank for failing to protect his interest.
“In one e-mail correspondence, the bank told me that they have taken action against the perpetrator. What action have they taken? I don’t know but I have yet to receive justice,” he said.
Aleem added that he was informed by the Singaporean authorities that they sent a letter to the Malaysian police for assistance over the matter but received no reply.
“I don’t know why the police here are taking a long time. If this happened in Singapore, the authorities would have nabbed Maria Dass within days,” he said.
Bukit Aman’s cyber crime and multimedia head ACP Kamaruddin Md Zin could not be reached for comment.
PETALING JAYA: A Singaporean businessman lost about RM7,000 last year through a scam after his e-mail correspondence with his supplier was intercepted by a cyber criminal.
Adding salt to injury, the businessman alleged that the Malaysian police and a prominent local bank which held the perpetrator’s bank account did not take any action against the latter.
“The report was lodged in September last year but till today the police and the bank failed to address my grievances. Even my letters to Bank Negara went unanswered,” said Abdul Aleem Sem.
Relating his ordeal, Aleem, 55, who runs a medical equipment business in the island state, said that on Sept 16 last year, the scammer had imitated their supplier’s contact person Coco Zou after hacking his company’s e-mail correspondence with the supplier, based in Shanghai, China.
“The scammer used an almost identical e-mail of our supplier and started telling us to credit payment to a bank account in Puchong instead of the usual Chinese bank,” Aleem said, adding that the scammer had even imitated the supplier’s invoice number.
The bank account in Puchong was registered under the name of Maria Dass A/ John.
After making payments on Sept 20, Aleem suspected something was amiss when their supplier claimed that they had yet to receive the payment.
“I called Zou for clarification and it was then I realised that we got conned,” he said.
Following this, Aleem lodged a report with the police here and the Puchong branch of the bank on Sept 29.
He also lodged a complaint with the Singaporean police and Bank Negara the following day.
He said that it had been months now but the police had yet to take any action.
Still waiting for justice
Asked if he had checked with the local bank, Aleem said he sent various letters and contacted the bank involved but received no favourable answer.
“They said Maria Dass took out the money and closed his account a couple of days after the transaction was made. They just washed their hands off,” he said.
On his next course of action, Aleem said he would seek legal redress against the bank for failing to protect his interest.
“In one e-mail correspondence, the bank told me that they have taken action against the perpetrator. What action have they taken? I don’t know but I have yet to receive justice,” he said.
Aleem added that he was informed by the Singaporean authorities that they sent a letter to the Malaysian police for assistance over the matter but received no reply.
“I don’t know why the police here are taking a long time. If this happened in Singapore, the authorities would have nabbed Maria Dass within days,” he said.
Bukit Aman’s cyber crime and multimedia head ACP Kamaruddin Md Zin could not be reached for comment.
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