TWO women pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court today after admitting to their roles in a sophisticated scam that saw RM1.7 million siphoned from Maybank using hacked card terminals and a suspicious approval code — 'VIP111'.
The court heard how the accused, Chong Yin Hong, 41, and Chong Li Shian, 38, were part of a larger syndicate that exploited Electronic Data Capture (EDC) terminals at Maybank merchant locations between 31 May and 14 June this year.
Using nothing more than a mobile phone synced with a foreign credit card and a covert code, the women bypassed standard bank verification systems. The EDC terminals were deliberately forced into offline mode, causing the transactions to appear valid despite never being authorised by the bank.
The fraud came to light in June when a vigilant customer noticed an unusual transaction and alerted the bank. Maybank’s Fraud Investigation Department launched an inquiry, uncovering 154 fake transactions that took place at its merchant outlets over just two weeks.
Key to exposing the scam was a peculiar anomaly in the system: every transaction carried the same fake authorisation code — ‘VIP111’. This repeated detail flagged the pattern and ultimately cracked the case.
During sentencing, Judge Suhaila Haron fined both women RM30,000 each, or four months' imprisonment in default, under Section 4(1)(a) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997 for unauthorised access with intent to commit fraud.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nursyuhada Husna Sulaiman urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, stressing the serious nature of cybercrime. However, defence counsel Muhammad Naqib Aiman Mohd Faizal pleaded for leniency, arguing both women were first-time offenders with ageing parents under their care. - August 25, 2025
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