BigPay warns consumers of scam, clarifies it has 'absolutely no involvement'

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BigPay has warned members and the public at large against a scam involving persons disguising as company officers, or falsely claiming to represent the company or company group affiliates, while claiming to offer cash prizes which they can only "redeem" upon receiving confidential information such as the banking one-time PIN (OTP) from the caller.

"We wish to clarify and strongly advise the public not to share any confidential information, such as their passcode, OTP and IC number, with anyone through any phone calls or messages they might receive, especially on chat messenger application, such as WhatsApp," the company said in a statement.

It reiterated that BigPay and its employees "have absolutely no involvement with these fraudulent practices and do not make such solicitations". BigPay also said it does not have any official WhatsApp Business account and does not engage with its customers on any form of messenger application. All official BigPay announcements are made via official channels and the mass media.

Additionally, BigPay has strengthened its security by reporting the WhatsApp numbers used by the scammers to the authorities. The company is also cooperating with the authorities including Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department to clamp down on as many scammers and fraudsters as possible.

According to the company, its machine learning system is also trained to detect and flag any fraudulent behaviours, systematically banning scammers’ BigPay accounts as well as strengthening the password reset requirements by adding two-factor authentication, with all existing features being constantly worked on to protect BigPay users.

"BigPay will not hesitate to take legal action against individuals or groups who purport to use the BigPay or airasia brand fraudulently or commit identity theft," the company said. It also urged consumers to report suspected scams via its website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. BigPay also warned that it shall not be held liable for any claims arising from schemes in which it and any of its authorised officers/employees have no involvement.

Separately, AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes was the target of a Facebook scam earlier this year disguised as Tony Fernandes Foundation. The airline warned consumers that the impersonator cited a Tony Fernandes Foundation offering opportunities to assist in projects and offer financial assistance in exchange for membership of the fictitious foundation. Users were instructed to contact a personal assistant named Mark Kelvin, who will ask for a membership fee to join the Tony Fernandes Foundation.

Meanwhile more recently, IOI Group also alerted consumers that its name and emblem have been fraudulently used by unscrupulous individuals in various forms of cross-border fraud, investment fraud, advanced fee scams and similar scams (sent by virtual communication such as email and WhatsApp, or hard-copy letter) to induce potential investors.

IOI Group explained that these identity fraud and financial fraud include phishing attacks, in which the names of IOI Group officials have been misused to deceive recipients into disclosing personal and financial information, and spoofing attempts, in which a false copy of IOI Group Investment’s website has been created with false contact information, to mislead potential users.

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