KUCHING: A Sarawak victim of unauthorized online transfers has received full refund of RM19,667.79 from the bank five months later.

Tiong, who currently studies at a university in Selangor, discovered that the money in her savings account with Maybank had been transferred to accounts she did not know.

A total of 99 online transactions were performed without her knowledge as she did not receive any One Time Password (OTP) or notification from the bank for the transfers.

Tiong lodged a police report and applied for refund from the bank, which said it would investigate the incident.

As she did not receive any reply from the bank after that, she sought the assistance of Chong Chieng Jen, Member of Parliament for Stampin.

Chong said the student underwent tremendous stress for the loss of money in her savings account, which was for her to pay her tuition fees.

“She was relieved to have received full refund on June 14,” said Chong.

He also said said this was the first case of a bank refunding unauthorized online transfers in full in recent months.

He thanked Maybank for taking a proactive and fair action although the process took a little more time.

He also urged other banks to speed up applications for refunds by customers who have lost their savings through unauthorized transfers.

Public confidence in the financial institutions’ internet security can only be restored with prompt actions from the banks, he added.

“Bank Negara and the finance ministry should continue to safeguard the interests and rights of depositors.”