This notification came via email:

Maybank Account Holder Please Read…

Whoever has the Maybank account number with ATM card, please be careful when withdrawing money through ATM machine,

1. For the first time when you enter the right pin number, a message “invalid pin number” pops up.

2. Then, when you enter your pin number for the second time, a message “invalid pin number, please call this number “xxx-xxxx” pops up.

3. If you call this number, you will lose all your money.

NOTE : if you encounter the above matter, please DO NOT call the number. One of victim just lost RM ! 700.00 on last Sunday and Maybank checked his
last transaction was on that day itself even though he did not withdraw any money. Please forward this to your friends.

Best Regards,
Normah Zakaria
Credit Risk Management
Level 29, East Wing
Menara Maybank
Tel : 03-20708833

My immediate response was to try and call Ms. Normah Zakaria to validate the email.  So I called the above number and got to a phone menu which was not helpful at all. I decided to choose 2 as it was the menu for ATM cards.  Then a new message came on asking me to call another number – 03-20703333.

I called that number and got to another automated menu. This time I chose the menu for lost card as I was sure a human would answer.  The person was helpful and gave me another  number to call.  03-2074-8650 or 03 20748474 . I finally spoke to an Andrew from Corporate affairs. After explaining to him what I ws looking for, he confidently said it was a hoax. He then gave me his email and promised if I forwarded him the email, he would in return send the press release that maybank has issued to clarify the matter.

I  sent him the email at 12:10pm , 17th August 2007.  Its now 8:28pm and Andrew still hasn’t replied.

Two lessons from here:

a: the mail is probably a hoax.

b: Maybank never changes – whatever they promise, they never follow through.