PENANG, Malaysia -- Malaysia lost more than RM40 million (Malaysian ringgits -- approximately $10.5 million) to ATM and credit card fraud in 2001, according to a report in The Star. More than 100 cases of ATM fraud and 29 cases of credit card fraud were reported between last January and September.
State police chief Datuk Arthur Edmonds said such incidents have increased dramatically in recent years.
"In 1999, these cases involved RM24mil (approximately $6.3 million), while in 2000 it was RM28mil (about $7.3 million),'' he said.
Edmonds said that several hundred account holders of a Penang-based bank were cheated of RM1.2mil (about $314,800) in 2001 after their ATM cards were cloned by a syndicate which had since been identified. The syndicate is also responsible for similar cases in Negri Sembilan, Johor and Kuala Lumpur, according to the Star report.
Illegally obtained credit card details can be sold for up to RM300 ($79) each. Syndicates usually approach hotel workers like waiters and cashiers to provide them with such details in return for money.
A counterfeit credit card syndicate busted by police on May 22 had apparently obtained the particulars of more than 16,000 cardholders to be encoded into such cards.
However, according to Edmonds, credit card fraud syndicates are getting more sophisticated. Its members are now able to tap into the PABX telephone control system's main line to obtain card details using a special chip. Four men using such a method were arrested in Langkawi in May, the first time this modus operandi had been detected in Malaysia.
Edmonds said that more stringent laws and tighter security checks when issuing credit cards would help alleviate card fraud.
