PETALING JAYA (ANN/THE STAR) – The banking industry successfully intercepted almost MYR800mil worth of suspicious and fraudulent transactions in the past two years, says the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM).
It said the transactions, worth over MYR780mil, were intercepted between 2023 and 2024.
“This highlights the banking sector’s dedication to safeguarding customers’ funds through proactive intervention and close collaboration with law enforcement agencies,” ABM said in an email reply to The Star.
It said the banking sector maintains strong and collaborative partnerships with authorities to combat financial crimes and scams.
This includes working with the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre, National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the police.
According to ABM, banks in Malaysia have commenced the implementation of malware shielding technology on their mobile banking apps to provide an additional layer of protection from malware scams.
“Banks also provide round-the-clock dedicated complaint channels for customers to report suspicious activity or potential fraud,” it said.
The association also highlighted the launch of the National Fraud Portal (P) last year, which involved Bank Negara, Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) and financial institutions.
This offers an integrated platform to strengthen the NSRC’s operational capabilities, it said.
It also said the financial industry has adopted industry-wide procedures for reporting and handling mule accounts.
Bank Negara, it said, also requires financial institutions to ensure robust fraud investigation processes with enhanced transparency and disclosure obligations.
ABM added that Bank Negara has established extensive regulations and safeguards that banks and financial institutions must adhere to prevent scams and fraudulent transactions.
This includes risk-based authentication, transaction monitoring and mandatory cooling-off periods. Other measures are the Risk Management in Technology (RMiT) policy document.
Explaining, ABM said the RMiT outlines requirements for financial institutions to manage technology risks effectively, including robust risk management controls and cyberfortification.
There is also a migration away from one-time passwords (OTP) being sent through SMS, to more secure authentication methods.
“Banks also now only allow a single mobile device or secure device to be registered for each online banking account or ID,” it said.
Banks in Malaysia too are actively conducting awareness campaigns to educate customers on various scam tactics as well as cyberhygiene practices to keep customers safe online, said ABM.
“Be cautious with unsolicited communications and only use official and verified channels to communicate with banks. Only download apps from official app stores, and check the authenticity of the app developer before downloading.”
It also advised customers to use unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication.
“Also, question any offers that seem unusually attractive,” ABM said.
