Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has said that it is working on setting up a national fraud portal, where crucial information about the bank accounts and details used by scammers to commit financial crimes will be collected. Expected to be ready by the middle of 2024, the development of the portal will also see the involvement of the financial industry and Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet).

“With this database, the banking industry can use technology to detect patterns and connections between the accounts used by scammers. This can help banks stop fraudulent transactions more quickly and assist law enforcement agencies in their investigations,” said the deputy governor of BNM, Datuk Marzunisham Omar, adding that the portal will only be made accessible to banks.

Datuk Marzunisham also said that with the gathering of information about suspicious bank accounts used to receive stolen money, it is hoped that authorities can be more successful in tracing and freezing stolen funds. In turn, this will lead to better protection of victims from losses.

Aside from announcing the development of the national fraud portal, Datuk Marzunisham also highlighted the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered scams. “This is something that we have to guard against, we don’t want to underestimate the scammers as they would use various modus operandi to scam the people,” he said.

Among other things, AI tech can be misused to generate or manipulate visual and audio content of recognised individuals to dupe victims, leading them to believe that an investment scheme is genuine. As such, members of the public must remain extra vigilant and always check for genuine licences before agreeing to any investments.

Datuk Marzunisham further noted that BNM and other agencies have sought to use technology to automate the reporting process of scam incidents for the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC). This, in turn, will simplify the process for Malaysians when they need to lodge a report once they realise that they have been scammed.

Finally, Datuk Marzunisham reminded that victims must call their bank’s 24-hour hotline or the NSRC to report any online financial scams as soon as they can. Immediate action on the part of the victim is important to ensure that the bank can intercept any stolen funds and allow the police to take action swiftly, he said.

(Sources: Sinar Daily, The Star)

• TAGS:
• AI-Powered Scams
• Bank Negara Malaysia
• BNM
• Datuk Marzunisham Omar
• National Fraud Portal
• Online Scams
• Payments Network Malaysia
• Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet)
• Scams