While the Association of Bank Malaysia reported that scam awareness among consumers has increased, Bank Negara reminds Malaysians that the threat is prevalent and extremely concerning.
In his speech in Kuching recently, Deputy Governor Marzunisham Omas said with digitalisation there is no escaping from the threat of cybercrime and that a study conducted by BNM found that the practice of using digital financial services prudently among Malaysians is still weak. Among them, he said 37% (one-third) of Malaysians share their passwords and PIN numbers with family and close friends which can expose users to financial scams.
Based on data from the National Scam Response Center, from October 2022 until September 2023, there were 53,783 calls from fraud victims with an estimated loss of RM188 million nationwide. The state of Sarawak recorded 1,177 calls with an estimated loss of RM12.5 million during this period. The majority of financial scam victims in Sarawak are those under the age of 40, and scam cases are focused on e-commerce fraud, non-existent loans, and telecommunications fraud.
The Governor implored the public to practice the following three steps to protect themselves from becoming a victim of online financial fraud, or online financial scams: Never give personal banking information to an unknown party, either by phone or website; Do not click suspicious links sent via SMS or email; and Only download the app from the official channel on your mobile phone.
