Don’t give out credit card number to a third party

Consumers have been warned not to be fooled by con men calling up to offer discounts for those who use credit cards to pay for purchases at hypermarkets.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said he too had received two such calls on his handphone.

The callers had urged him to sign up for a scheme that offered a 25% discount when buying goods from hypermarkets using his credit card.

He believed that the syndicate members, who he said could be foreigners based on their accents, were out to obtain the details of his credit card so that they could clone it.

“The callers said their company was based in Menara KL or KL Tower. When asked for the exact location of the office they said it was on the fourth floor but did not reveal the name of the company or its lot number,” he said.

His suspicions were aroused when they said things like only VIPs were allowed into the office and no form needed to be filled by card holders, adding that the discount cards would be sent by courier to their homes.

However, he said, no one had so far reported being duped by this particular syndicate.
His department’s legal adviser, Sam Yeong, said a credit card holder could be sued by the bank which issued the card for giving out the card’s number to a third party.

“Card holders are not supposed to reveal their credit card number to a third party. It is negligence on their part if they do so,” he said.