Malaysian police and local bank warn public about 'lottery scam'

Published on February 18, 2025 at 05:31
Updated on February 19, 2025 at 04:15
3 min read
By Najmi Mamat, AFP Malaysia

Bank Islam Malaysia says Facebook posts claiming the lender is running an online lottery where customers can win generous prizes are "fake" and have misused their name and image. Police said the posts directed people to a page that imitated the bank's official website and asked for online banking details. The posts used photos taken during an event the bank held in September 2023 where they gave away prizes to investment account holders.

"Congratulations to the loyal customers of Bank Islam Malaysia. We have prepared many cash prizes for teachers!" reads a Malay-language Facebook post shared on January 21, 2025.

It adds that prizes include 18 million Malaysian ringgit ($4.06 million), a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and a BMW sports car.

Images attached to the post show people displaying their prizes in front of the Bank Islam logo, and a graphic that appears to depict all the prizes on offer.

Users are then encouraged to click a link in the post or in the page's bio for more information and to register for the purported lottery.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on February 13, 2025

Similar posts touting Bank Islam's purported lottery were shared elsewhere on Facebook here, here and here.

But Bank Islam and the Malaysian police have both warned that such posts are a scam.

AFP has previously debunked similar scam posts that impersonated government agencies to supposedly offer loans and free driving licences.

'Fake accounts'

Keyword searches on Google led to a post published on Bank Islam's verified Facebook page on February 3, 2025, warning people to beware of "fake accounts" that use the bank's name and logo online (archived link).

"If you suspect that you have been a victim of fraud, immediately contact Bank Islam for assistance or contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997," read the Malay-language post.

Attached to the Bank Islam message is a post from January 20 that has a "false" label superimposed across it.

Screenshot of the message posted on the verified Bank Islam Facebook page

The bank said in a February 9 statement that all campaign promotions are conducted exclusively through its official platforms and channels (archived link).

"We will never request personal or sensitive information such as account numbers, passwords or OTP (one-time password) codes through websites or social media accounts for any campaign," the bank added.

The links included in the false post are no longer accessible but, according to a Malaysian police statement, one scam victim who clicked on a link was taken to a website that imitated Bank Islam's official website and asked for online banking details (archived link).

Lucky draw for account holders

A reverse image search of the photo used in the false post led to an article by the Sinar Harian newspaper published on February 22, 2023 (archived link).

According to the article, the bank held a lucky draw in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, for their customers who held an Al-Awfar investment account.

Account holders are eligible for different lucky draw prizes depending on the amount of money they deposit and whether they maintain a minimum account balance (archived link).

A separate reverse image of the graphic used in the false posts led to the verified Instagram page of Bank Islam, which shared a similar graphic on September 22, 2023 (archived link).

The version shared in the false posts, however, has several altered elements including text that indicated the prizes were for eligible Al-Awfar account holders and a logo indicating it was shared in 2023.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared graphic (left) and the graphic shared by Bank Islam in September 2023 (right), with altered elements highlighted by AFP

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