Man hounded by loan sharks for debts taken under his name

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Shaken by theft: (From left) MCA Public Service and Complaints Department legal advisor Alex Kok, Heng and Chong at a press conference. PHOTO from The Star/ANN

KUALA LUMPUR — A mechanic fears someone has stolen his identity after several credit cards were applied under his name.

Two loan sharks have also come after him claiming he owed them RM5,000 and RM6,000.

Now Heng Wen Yik, 26, is having sleepless nights worrying if a conman has raked up more debts under his name.

“On Oct. 5, I received a credit card from Citibank which I did not apply for and I contacted the bank and cancelled it.

“At first I thought nothing of it until several days later, another bank called me to confirm my credit card application,” he told reporters at the MCA Public Service and Complaints Department on Tuesday.

He quickly sent an email to several other banks on Oct. 12 to check if other applications had been made.

“One of the banks I emailed got back to me and said a credit card had been applied under my name and was swiped for RM15,000.

“When I asked them to produce proof of the application, they brought out the documents. I was shocked that someone had super-imposed their face on my MyKad and used it in the application,” he said, adding that a KWSP i-Account was also created under his name without his knowledge.

To add to his nightmare, on Oct. 22 he received a call from a loan shark claiming that he owed RM6,000.

“The man came to my office to look for me and when he showed me the MyKad copy he took from the borrower, he realized that the face was different from mine.

“He even advised me to lodge a police report,” he said, adding that another loan shark has also been harassing him over a debt of RM5,000.

He said he had never lost his MyKad before and was clueless how his details could have been extracted by this individual.

“I have lodged four police reports on the matter, but the police have not got back to me on the case so far,” he said, hoping the authorities would take immediate action.

MCA Public Service and Complaints Department chairman Datuk Seri Michael Chong said there have been nine cases of alleged MyKad misuse this year reported to him.

“If the banks come after this victim, my legal team will assist him,” he said, urging the police and Bank Negara to take action.

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