Carolyn Lee Yen Nee, 33, said a bank here contacted her last Nov 28 and informed that there were six unusual transactions made out of her account.
“They were done without my consent on Shopee. Five transactions of RM2,700 each and one of RM1,080, for a total of RM14,580, was transferred (out my account),” she said, in a statement here today.
She lodged a police report and the bank then froze her account as the case was under investigation.
According to Lee, an official complaint was also filed with Shopee.
But that was more than six months ago. The woman is still waiting for an update on her case from the relevant authorities.
Anxious that there seemed to be no apparent progress made, Lee approached Sabah DAP’s Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe for help.
“Lee came to me for assistance because she was worried having not received any updates on the case even after more than six months of waiting,” he said, adding that she had also reported her predicament with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
“So, I hope the authorities will take action on this and get back to her.”
Phoong, who is also Sabah DAP youth chief, said Lee decided to make her case public in order to raise awareness.
Lee said her appeals to Shopee over the matter had been unsuccessful as the online shopping platform considered the transactions valid.
“I hope the public take note (of my case) and try to prevent any similar incidents from happening again.
“I never tied my card with the platform and I did not receive any OTP (one-time password) from the bank.
“It is unfair that I have to continue paying for the interest rates charged for the payments (which I did not make),” she said.
Phoong also appealed to Shopee to look into the matter, noting that Lee, like many others now, has been significantly affected by the pandemic.
“I urge Shopee to investigate the issue as well to allow Lee to know when, how and who made the payments,” he said.
He said the government must also introduce an initiative to protect the public from such scams in the future, contending that similar cases are rising amid the pandemic.