Malaysia's central bank announces new measures to curb scam

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Malaysia's central bank announces new measures to curb scam

The central bank of Malaysia has announced a series of additional measures and security features to curb the rising number of financial scams.

In a speech at a financial crime exhibition on Monday, Bank Negara Malaysia BNM governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd said the measures include requiring banks to migrate from SMS one-time passwords to more secure forms of authentication for online activities and transactions, as well as a cool-off period for first-time online banking service registrations.

The tighter security controls are being put in place to deter attempts by criminals to scam consumers, said Mdm Nor Shamsiah.

She stated that banks will be required to tighten their fraud detection features by alerting customers when suspicious activity is detected in their accounts and blocking such transactions.

Users will be restricted to only one mobile device for authentication and banks will have to set up dedicated hotlines for customers to report financial scam incidents.

In announcing these measures, Mdm Nor Shamsiah acknowledged that they would inevitably lead to friction or inconvenience for customers' online banking experience. She stressed that they were necessary.

For example, online banking transactions may take a little longer to process. She said that these measures are important to protect the interests of customers because they entail some inconvenience, and they are important to make no mistake.