Besides introducing new security measures, there have been calls for tougher action on banks to tackle the rising problem of online scams. In Parliament, Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen has suggested that the government should hold banks accountable by making them reimburse scam victims for their losses.
He said at least a significant portion of it should be reimbursed unless the bank can prove that the account holders were part of the scam.
Chong believes that banks and financial institutions will invest more money to upgrade and enhance their online banking facility as well as tighten SOPs and mechanisms for online transfers if it is made compulsory for them to pay compensation to online scam victims. He gave an example in Singapore where 469 OCBC customers incurred losses of at least SGD 8.5 million (about RM28 million) through SMS Phishing scams in December 2021.
The bank eventually provided a one-off goodwill payment to victims and introduced new anti-scam measures and improved security measures to tackle the issue. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had also imposed additional capital requirements of approximately SGD 330 million (about RM1.1 billion) for deficiencies in response to spoofed SMS phishing scams.
Chong shared that the OCBC scam incident was solved in six months and the police had arrested nine men and four men for their alleged involvement. The MP said the banks can afford to pay compensation based on the net profits of the top six banks in the country. He added that the losses of the scams only make up a fraction of their profits but for individuals, the amount lost is the savings of a lifetime. He said it was only fair for banks to compensate the victims.
If you’re suspected or believed to have been scammed, you are urged to call the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) hotline at 997 as soon as possible. The earlier you report, the higher the chances for Bank Negara Malaysia to stop the outflow of funds. Last year, the NSRC was reported to have recovered about RM1.4 million worth of funds for scam victims.
[ SOURCE ]
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