Getting scammed in this day and age is no longer something to be ashamed of. It can happen to the best of us, no matter how careful and sharp you think you are. Scammers have perfected the art of social manipulation to the point that they are able to convince almost anyone to part ways with their hard-earned money. Add to that the amount of leaked data floating around, they enter the arena extremely well equipped with an upper hand to hoodwink their chosen target.
Most banks have decided to “enhance” security on their respective apps to “protect” their customers from becoming victims to scammer. Unfortunately, these protections end up causing more trouble than it is worth. Adding layers upon layers of security is somewhat pointless when the holder of the keys are being manipulated to willingly unlock the gates to their accounts. But sometimes, Banks get it right and manage to recover the funds. It was a breath of fresh air when one Lowyat.NET forum member, greyPJ shared his recent experience of being scammed and getting his money back a merely few days later.
Custom Made Scams – Never Two Are The Same
Getting scammed is a strange experience. And the reality that you were scammed usually hits you a few minutes right after you approve the transaction. Most scams involve knowledge of the target and in the case of greyPJ the scammer managed to gain access to his good friends WhatsApp account, along with prior conversations between the friend and the victim. As explained by greyPJ the friend frequently travels and has in the past requested help to borrow money or pay 3rd party account for some work or errands done. The stories are usually convincing and always appear urgent. With the AI boom now, even voice messages are manipulated to make everything seem a lot more convincing.
Like most victims, greyPJ realized he was scammed minutes after the transfer of RM2689 went through. The transfer was done via RYT Bank, one of a number of digital banks licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia that started operations late last year. The scammer also secured a mule account under the same bank – likely because the victim would be able to do an instant transfer without taking too much time to jump through the hoops of an inter-bank transfer. What the scammer did not see coming was how fast RYT Bank acted on the complaint from their customer.
Approximately ten minutes after the transfer, I realized that I had been deceived. I immediately contacted Ryt Bank’s customer service hotline to report the incident. The response from the bank was both swift and highly professional. Their staff took immediate action to block the suspicious mule account, preventing the scammer from withdrawing the funds. – greyPJ
Most banks will require you to file a police report first, before taking any action. Calling up customer service or the fraud hotline doesn’t help either. The most they will do, if you manage to get through is freeze your account instead of the mule account – and that also only applies IF the scammers account is from the same bank. By the time this entire process is completed, the scammer is already off spending his ill-gotten gains on a new iPhone, or in some cases a new condominium. Ryt Bank did request for a police report, but first pro-actively froze the mule account to ensure that the funds do not leave the mule account. greyPJ got the police report done and submitted it to Ryt Bank and managed to get back his money within 2 days.
Digital Scams Rising Every Year
Digital scam involving online banking accounts continues to rise every year. In 2025, impersonation scams hit around RM542 million. Out of this number only 6% around RM6.7 million was managed to be recovered and returned to victims. These numbers might be much higher considering a lot of scam victims decide against filing reports due to what they perceive to be their own fault when they fall victim to online scams. While most banks are fighting to bring this number down by increasing security and forcing customers to jump through multiple hoops to make transfers, they are barely doing anything to help victims by acting fast and freezing funds that have been illicitly acquired – until it is too late.
Hopefully more banks follow suit in providing their customers with a fast-track way to freeze funds that have been transferred illicitly to mule accounts, before it is transferred out. Customer should be given an option, similar to a kill switch to freeze intra-bank transactions within a reasonable amount of time. An investigation can be conducted later to ascertain the legality of the freeze request, and which party has the legal rights to the funds. This framework should then be extended to inter-bank transactions as well; to bring down the millions lost to scammers every year.
Source: Lowyat Forums
