KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) remains highly committed to ensuring the banking system and payment channels were equipped with high security measures in an effort to combat rising threats of financial scams.
Deputy governor Datuk Marzunisham Omar said keeping the banking and payment channels secure and equipped with the latest security controls and fraud risk management capabilities is a priority for BNM and the financial industry.
“We will remain alert from time to time, update and heighten regulatory requirements and security measures to take into account new risks and modus operandi.
“BNM will continue to study the tactics used by scammers and will take the appropriate steps including to implement additional measures to address these new tactics.
“Each and every one of us as individual banking consumers has a role to play. For this reason, financial institutions are stepping up efforts to educate and create awareness among their customers on the latest scam tactics and steps one can take to avoid becoming a scam victim,” he told Bernama in a recent email exclusive interview.
According to Marzunisham, the establishment of the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) as a command centre to coordinate rapid response for online financial scams will strengthen the cooperation between the central bank and service providers.
The NSRC is a joint effort between the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre, Royal Malaysia Police, BNM and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, together with the banking industry and telecommunication companies.
“By putting these different agencies and organisations under a single umbrella, we can better pool our resources and share information to take quicker action, especially in tracing the stolen funds and then freezing them.
“The goal is for law enforcement agencies to track down the criminals behind the scams and ultimately bring them to justice.
“It is very important for the victims to immediately contact their bank’s dedicated scam hotlines or NSRC’s hotline at 997 as soon as they discover that they have been scammed,” said Marzunisham.
In the meantime, he noted that the central bank will continue to collaborate with the financial industry to increase public awareness particularly on how financial consumers can transact online safely and securely.
“Rather than legislate or regulate customer behaviour, our priority is to educate and inform the public so that they remain alert and aware of scams while knowing how to protect themselves against such threats,” he said.
On Oct 30, the banking industry came together to launch The National Scam Awareness Campaign as a continuation of an effort to educate consumers on financial scams while sharing tips to stay safe online.
The campaign with its tagline of ‘Ingat 3 Saat OK’ focusing on the actions of Stop, Think and Block is expected to roll out in November with more prominent messages across multiple channels. – BERNAMA
