PETALING JAYA, Apr 8 (Sin Chew Daily) — The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) says it has not received any information on any bank in the country being hacked.

An anonymous caller recently tipped Sin Chew Daily that the system of a local bank had been compromised by hackers.

As no further details had been provided, we contacted the ABM for clarification.

In an e-mail reply, ABM executive director Kalpana Sambasivamurthy told Sin Chew Daily they had yet to receive any news on this matter.

"We assure you that our member banks will look into the security issue very seriously, and will take regular preventive measures to ensure the safety of their banking systems."

ABM urges the public to stay highly alert of any attempt to obtain sensitive information from them, and not to disclose their personal or bank particulars to strangers or unauthorized parties.

The association also reminds the public not to disclose the Transaction Authorization Code (TAC) sent to their phones when requested by a stranger claiming to have misregistered your phone number for online banking. Contact the bank directly for verification when in doubt.