ALOR SETAR, Dec 29 — Members of the public have been reminded not to ‘sell’ their bank account to a third party to avoid the account from being used in online scams.

Kedah police deputy chief, Datuk Mohd Roze Shaari said there were many cases of mule account cases happening because the original account holder gave details of the bank account to a third party with an offer of being paid on a monthly basis.

"Some were offered between RM200 and RM300 a month. But it is not worth it because any abuse will be easily detected and action will be taken against the original holder of the bank account,” he told reporters after a "Scammer Threats” Town Hall Programme held at the Kedah police contingent headquarters (IPK) here today.

The three-hour programme which discussed a variety of issues related to scams, was helmed by Sentul district police headquarters (IPD) Commercial CID head who is also the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Anti-Scam ambassador ASP Rahmat Fitri Abdullah and two other panelists.

The other panelists are Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department principal assistant director (Money Laundering) SAC Fazlisyam Abd Majid and Vulsan X Corporation chief executive officer Dr Prakash Christiansen.

Meanwhile, Mohd Roze said pensioners and students of institutions of higher learning (IPT) are the two main targets of scammers because they already know when students receive their scholarship money and retirees receive their pensions.

"Normally, a scammer will contact the IPT students at the beginning of the year because that is the time students get their scholarship money while pensioners every middle of the month, so it's easy for them to be tricked out of their money.

"So, I urge the public to be vigilant and recognise the early signs of fraud as the authorities will never contact them using private numbers. They must use the official number of their respective departments and if in doubt, they can call the relevant department for confirmation,” he added. — Bernama