BNM Launches Virtual Crime Exhibition, Announces New Security Measures

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) have launched the ‘Financial Crime: Scan Before You’re Scammed’ virtual exhibition.

The exhibition outlines the various types of financial crimes that have been seen throughout Malaysia and how they have developed and evolved over time. One of the key features of the exhibition is that it allows public visitors to simulate financial scam scenarios, so that they themselves can see how such events play out.

The virtual exhibition was jointly officiated by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani and the Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus. For those who are interested, the virtual exhibition can be found at museum.bnm.gov.my/fce.

BNM and RMP hopes that through this exhibit, the public will become more aware of such scams and to learn how to protect themselves and others from becoming victims.

One of the preventative strategies mentioned was the “3S – Spot, Stop, and Share”. This stands for:

Spot – Look out for signs of scams. Question, investigate and enquire to ensure that you are about to engage in a legitimate transaction.

Stop – If anything looks doubtful or suspicious, it’s probably a In such cases, stop engaging with the suspected scammer. It is important that you do not provide any banking or payment details.

Share – Share your knowledge of scams with friends and family, and help protect others by reporting scams to relevant authorities so that they can take action.

During the launch, Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd. Yunus announced additional measures that will be undertaken by the banking industry to combat financial scams. Some of these measures include:

• The migration of SMS One Time Passwords (OTP) to a more secure form of authentication
• Further tightening of detection rules and triggers for the blocking of scams-related transactions
• Subjecting first-time enrolments of online banking services and secure devices to a cooling-off period
• Customers will be restricted to one mobile device or secure device for the authentication of online banking transactions
• Banks will be required to set up dedicated scam hotlines.

“Scams and cybercrimes have been on the rise of late, not just in Malaysia but all around the world. This is a concerning development which Bank Negara Malaysia takes seriously. This is especially so where these cases concern financial scams. We have been and will continue to step up efforts to combat financial scams, and in doing so collaborate with other stakeholders. These include rolling out preventive measures, pursuing more effective and coordinated enforcement actions, and raising public awareness”, said the governor.

In addition to this, the governor also mentioned that BNM will continue to highlight the latest scam-related information through the Amaran Scam Facebook page, which can be found at facebook.com/amaranpenipuan.

During his speech, IGP Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that the growing ability of cybercriminals to exploit technological changes and creative new ways to trap and exploit victims, accompanied by only a moderate amount of public awareness regarding cybercrimes, are the chief reasons for increasing cases. As such, the RMP seeks to disseminate as much information and knowledge as possible to the community so they can avoid becoming victims of such criminal activities

The public is advised to keep their personal information secure and avoid downloading files or applications from unknown sources onto their devices. Account holders who encounter suspicious transactions involving their bank accounts are advised to immediately:

• Notify their banks;
• Contact the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559/1599 or BNMTELELINK at 1-300-88-5465; and
• Lodge a police report to facilitate the investigation.