Stay Alert!!

Recently I got a call from a random number, and

...ok wait. A little caveat, I do have to pick up random unknown numbers most of the time due to the nature of my job.

So anyway, recently I got a call from a random number, and I picked it up trying to figure who can it be, conversation went something like this:

Unknown Person (UP): Hello, can I speak to Alia Ishak?
Me: Yes speaking, who's on the line?
UP: I'm calling from the High Court and would like to ask why you did not appear for your hearing in court at 9.30am this morning?
Me: Huh? Appear in court for what??
UP: It seems that you've got a huge overdue payment on your CIMB Credit Card and we would like to know why you did not attend the court hearing this morning.
Me: Sorry what? I work in CIMB and I know CIMB does not do this, so why do you lie to people?

....tut tut tut....

The phone line went dead instantly.

Some people (read: Scammers) out there are out to catch easy consumers - they know your full name, sound very convincing, seems to know a little about you, but really they're trying their luck. So always be vigilant!

I recently read a comment that said "Jahat la Bank these days! Tadi Bank XYZ called to ask me for my IC number, mesti nak ambik duit". First of all, that was obviously NOT XYZ BANK, it's a scammer. Secondly, NO, Banks WOULD NOT simply call you up to request for you to change your personal details. Never be too naive and quick to comment - when in doubt, never oblige!!

And once, a staff of ours asked me a rather funny question that almost did not make sense to believe at all. So his mum received a call from the Bank and apparently the Bank had told her to pay a sum of money to an unknown account in return for a huge amount of money transfer that was supposedly for her and would be banked in to her. I told him it's not's the Bank. It's a scammer.

But by the time he asked me, his mum had made that payment and lost her money.

Again, first of all, a Bank would not tell you to transfer money out of your account in order to allow more money to come in. Why would it? It sounds silly! I mean think about it, who would you even address the Money transfer to? The Bank as the entity is a recipient? A Bank charges you RM10,000 and you are instructed to bank it into an unknown account? It's just unbelievable! Again, when in doubt, call the number at the back of your card!

Be aware of legit numbers too, these scammers have gone so far as to tap legit numbers. For example, if you were to google the unknown number, it says that it belongs to the police, when in fact it is not the police calling. Whatever it is, ALWAYS STAY ALERT!! When unsure and in doubt, DO NOT OBLIGE!