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Be careful of third party withdrawals

EPF members advised to deal directly with agency

Source: Borneo post

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is advising members to notify the EPF or police immediately if they are approached by individuals who offer to help them withdraw their savings under the pretext of specific withdrawals such as for housing, education and health.

Those who wish to apply for EPF withdrawals are advised to deal directly with the EPF which does not charge for its services and not seek any assistance from a third party, EPF senior public relations manager Nik Affendi Jaafar said.

“While we realise that there are members who are innocently duped into withdrawing their EPF savings, there are members who purposely resort to deceitful means to withdraw their retirement savings,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Nik Affendi said fraudulent withdrawals are a serious offence and EPF will not hesitate to take legal action against offenders under Section 59 of the EPF Act 1991.

“Those found guilty of fraudulent withdrawal or attempted fraudulent withdrawal are liable to a maximum jail sentence of three years or a RM10,000 fine, or both,” he said.

Nik Affendi said EPF’s investigation uncovered a number of fraudulent withdrawals involving the paying out of a large portion of members savings to unscrupulous third parties as commission.

“Armed with a common modus operandi, these syndicates would target members who appear desperate and in dire need of money.

“These members are then coaxed into handing over personal documents such as copies of their identification cards, bank account statements and ATM cards as part of the terms for making the illegal withdrawals,” he explained.

In the past, several scams involving education, health and housing withdrawals came to light whereby members had submitted forged documents to facilitate the approval of these withdrawals.

These offenders were subsequently charged and taken to court, he said.

Nik Affendi also reminded members that their EPF savings are designed for their financial security during retirement years and they should not get involved with syndicates to deplete their old-age savings prematurely, whatever the circumstances.

“At the end of the day, safeguarding members’ savings and their future remains the EPF’s main objective,” he said.