Chong: Fed govt must regulate bank scam losses, ensure law includes e-commerce platforms
KUCHING: The federal government must regulate bank scam losses and ensure that ecommerce platforms are not used to facilitate fraud and scams, said Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman said banks cannot use the fact that depositors have downloaded certain apps that compromise information on their accounts to absolve themselves of any responsibility.
“Even if the depositors have wrongly downloaded those malicious apps, they should not be penalised by losing their whole life savings. There are still precautionary measures available to the banks to help minimise their losses, but that was not done.
“Furthermore, in this era, ecommerce and online purchases are a way of life. Most people, especially the younger generation, cannot be expected to live without e-commerce. Therefore, it is the duty of the government to regulate on where the loss should fall,” he said in his letter to Deputy Minister of Finance II Steven Sim Chee Keong.
Chong, who is in Kuala Lumpur to submit the names and details of 10 bank scam victims to Sim, appealed for the ministry to intervene so that more thorough investigations be carried out, money trails followed, culprits brought to book, and the victims compensated for their losses.
He said beside banks, ecommerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, and Grab should also be roped in together with banks so that they will not be used as platforms to facilitate fraud and scams.
“All the victims have lodged police reports in respect of the fraud, but so far none has received any feedback from the police whether any action has been taken. They have also filed their claims with the banks but the banks have rejected all their claims.
“As a matter of policy, given that such bank scams are getting more rampant and the severe impacts on the individual victims, I urge your good office to adopt policies which will give more protection for the depositors rather than the banks. In a way, such policies will compel the banks to improve on their internet banking security systems,” Chong said in the letter.
He suggested a few grounds for a more depositor-friendly policies, as well as measures that banks can adopt to reduce scam transactions and help to prevent losses among account holders.
“The suggestions may incur additional costs and cause some inconvenience to the public, but in light of the increasing trend of such bank scam fraud, it is incumbent upon the government to compel the banks in Malaysia to introduce such safety mechanisms to protect the people’s money in the bank and the only way our banks will readily incur additional costs to introduce such mechanisms is to make the banks liable for such fraud and scams,” he said.
Chong added that he hoped Sim’s office will look into the matter urgently, particularly on the cases of the 10 victims.