VICTIMS of online financial frauds have called on banks and the police to “step up” and solve their issues, crying “unfair treatment” by commercial banks in particular.
A “support group” for these victims submitted a memorandum to MPs outside Parliament building today demanding executive intervention, especially from the finance minister.
The group was set up with the support of PKR last week after a spike in online financial fraud cases was brought to the party’s attention.
In a statement, the group’s adviser, PKR central leadership council member Lee Chean Chung, said online financial frauds made up the bulk of criminal commercial crimes (68%).
Citing official data from 2020 to May 2022, the Semambu state assemblyman said expected losses were an estimated RM3.54 bil, which works out to a daily average loss of RM4.07 mil.
“Unfortunately, in most cases, although the money transfers were done without the knowledge or consent of the victims, commercial banks do not treat the victims fairly.
“At the same time, efforts by the Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) do not reach their objectives, and it is clear that cases of online financial frauds continue increasing,” he said.
The memorandum also raised concerns of BNM’s “lembap” monitoring of commercial banks, and claims of these banks not “doing their jobs”.
Besides that, there is no one-stop centre to manage cases of online financial frauds, while police investigations are only focused on mule accounts.
“Be more thorough”
Lee said the group wants BNM to get the commercial banks to be more thorough in scrutinising unauthorised transactions and not place blame on their customers for factors out of their control.
Commercial banks should also be willing to make goodwill payments to customers who lost their money in such scams, citing a similar move by OCBC Singapore earlier this year.
Besides that, there should be a new industry code that would guarantee compensations to victims of unauthorised transactions, as was introduced by banks in the UK.
“PDRM… should discuss with the attorney-general about reviewing relevant laws in the country to keep with the times, and enable the authorities to carry out more effective investigations and better protect consumers,” it added.Lawmakers from both sides of the political divide were also urged to be more “sensitive” to “critical” issues like this.
The group trained their guns on the finance minister as well, calling on Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz to commit to ending instances of online financial fraud.
“The Government should defend the fate of the rakyat, not the banks and big corporations.”
The group’s memorandum was received by PKR MPs Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai) and Chang Lih Kang (Tanjong Malim) and a representative of the home ministry. – July 26, 2022
