A number of Facebook accounts are misusing the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) name and logo to promote illegal money lending services to the public, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.
The central bank said they had recently been made aware of these accounts which are falsely claiming to have been promoted by BDCB by misuing its name, logo and images of its employees.
The BDCB said it does not promote any financial service and advised the public to be wary of such advertisements using its name without consent to provide a sense of legitimacy.
The central bank said moneylenders are required to be licensed by it under the Moneylenders Act. Unlicensed moneylenders may be punished with a fine and imprisonment, said the BDCB.
The central bank also noted that any person using its name, symbol, designs or representation without its written permission or similar with the intention of deceiving or causing confusion is committing an offence under the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank Order 2010.
The offence carries a penalty of not more than BND20,000, imprisonment of not more than seven years or both.
The BDCB noted that dealing with unlicensed online entities offering financial services or moneylending poses risk to one’s finances and well-being due to high interest rates and “aggressive debt recovery tactics”.
The central bank also noted scammers may also impersonate money lending services, but are actually phishing attempts to obtain personal and financial information or install malicious apps on personal devices. Anyone wishing to obtain loans or financing are advised to only deal with financial institutions licensed by BDCB.
Anyone choosing to deal with entities not licensed by BDCB will not have the protection provided under BDCB’s regulatory framework.
A list of financial institutions licensed by BDCB as well as the BDCB Alert List can be found at www.bdcb.gov.bn
