DEPUTY Finance Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong has urged Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to partner up with various authorities to combat online financial scams.
The Bukit Mertajam MP shared on social media that he spoke with the Central Bank of Malaysia deputy governor Datuk Marzunisham Omar, for two hours discussing how to move ahead with the rising number of such scams.
Sim pointed out this is an election pledge. The issue is also important for him to settle.
Meanwhile, there were 71,833 fraud cases recorded from 2020 until May, with a loss amounting to RM5.2 bil, according to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.
Moreover, police data suggests that impersonating banks or the government, illegal loans, money mules using fraudulent accounts and ATM cards, investment scams, e-commerce scams, and romance scams are the most common scams.
“I have urged BNM, who is also an enforcer and regulator, to join forces with police, the Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission, and the National Financial Crime Centre to study better safety and security levels of online finance,” The Vibes reported Sim as saying.
Sim further added that there is also a need to find a way to return the monies lost to scammers, provide guarantees to depositors, and impose stern penalties against the offenders.
“The fight against cybercrime involves all parties, not just the government. We need to rope in community groups,” Sim wrote in his Facebook page.
Furthermore, Sim also mentioned that there is now a 997 emergency hotline that is open around-the-clock for reporting online scams.
He has also requested that BNM look for a more equitable way to share liabilities between the depositors’ and merchant banks’ obligations for money lost to scams. – Dec 24, 2022
Main photo credit: Malaysiakini
