Jeyakumar said the scammer impersonated him and sent messages to his contacts, asking for a RM5,000 loan and providing a bank account number for the transfer of funds.

“One of my friends whom the scammer contacted informed me about the account number the scammer provided to transfer the ‘loan’ into.

“I immediately called the bank’s hotline and asked for the account to be frozen at once to prevent any funds from being transferred into that account, and to stop the scammer from withdrawing any money that might have already been transferred.

“However, the bank officer said they couldn’t do that based on a call from someone unknown. They advised me to lodge a police report,” he said in a statement today.

After lodging a report at the Ipoh police headquarters, Jeyakumar said he was told to contact the bank again.

“When I called the bank again with the police report number, the staff told me that they would still wait for instructions from the police,” he said.

Jeyakumar said the lack of urgency from both the bank and police reflected a systemic weakness that enabled scammers to exploit victims with little resistance.

He said scammers often used mule accounts, bank accounts registered under someone else’s name, while they held onto the ATM cards.

He added that victims ultimately did not get their money back, and the account holders were left to deal with the consequences.

He urged financial institutions and law enforcement bodies to act more decisively when suspicious accounts are reported.

“Malaysia is experiencing an online scam epidemic. Banks and the police must improve their dealings with such scams and protect the people.”

FMT has reached out to the bank in question and the Ipoh police for comment.