PETALING JAYA: The police have welcomed the move by banks to introduce a cooling-off period to curb online banking fraud, says Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.

“Such a measure has been imposed by banks in Singapore. We certainly welcome it, as it will have a great impact on preventing scam victims from losing their money,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Comm Ramli was commenting on the move by banks to implement a cooling-off period for any increase in the transfer limit of funds to prevent scammers from making unauthorised withdrawals in maximum sums.

“The 12-hour cooling-off period will give scam victims ample time to contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) and the banks to block dubious transfers.

“In scams, huge transfers by scammers can occur within just three to four minutes. A cooling- off period can prevent such transfers from going through.

“Victims can inform the NSRC and subsequently, their respective banks can block the transfer of funds involved in a dubious transaction,” he added.

Comm Ramli said the rising number of mule accounts is a major concern as it is a primary conduit for scammers to move stolen funds. He said police had identified 208,000 suspected mule accounts that are being used by scammers.

“It is worrying as scammers are now turning to business bank accounts for their activities. Scam syndicates are forming companies, then opening business bank accounts and using them for fraudulent transfers,” he said.

Comm Ramli also welcomed the approved amendments to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code which will mete out hasher penalties and punishments for mule account holders.

He said the police had been seeking for harsher punishments as a deterrent.

The Penal Code amendments to Sections 424 and 424(b) and (c) that were approved by Dewan Negara apply to all individuals involved in scamming activities, including those indirectly implicated.

Malaysia Cybersecurity Community Raw Security (rawSEC) chairman Tahrizi Tahreb said it was important for bank cybersecurity measures to evolve to respond to complex attacks by scammers.

“Cybersecurity is very dynamic in nature and can evolve tremendously to cope with the current threat landscape,” he said in welcoming the cooling-off period.

He added that cybersecurity awareness needed to be better advocated so that consumers could be more alert when they receive suspicious information related to their bank accounts.

Tahrizi warned that even with a perfectly secure system, scammers can manipulate sentiment, feelings and the motivation of their targets.

“They also use information to identify and specifically target their victims,” he added.

Fomca deputy president Datuk Dr Paul Selvaraj also welcomed the 12-hour cooling off period.

“This is important for banks to increase security and for the authorities to stop the scams in time,” he said.

“Banks can do more besides the five key prevention measures mandated by Bank Negara.”

They include migrating from SMS one-time passwords, a cooling-off period on first-time enrolment for online banking services, allowing one device registered for transaction verification, and a 24-hour dedicated complaint channel for scam victims.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/07/26/cooling-off-period-gets-nod