Fingerprint method more effective to prevent fraud

LAST week, I got a call on my mobile phone purportedly from an established credit card company requesting that I confirm making two purchases amounting to a few thousand ringgit using the credit card.

The caller, a man, even furnished my full name, house address and MyKad number.

However, I do not have a credit card from the company concerned so I denied the claims and threatened to make a police report.

When I later called the company, I was told it was a scam.

I Googled for more information and found that there were a few other people who were also approached by the same scammer(s). This is truly alarming as it appears to be a large-scale operation.

I am sure they would have also got hold of photocopies of our MyKad as these are easy to obtain. Customers normally submit photocopies of their MyKad when applying for loyalty cards from department stores, supermarkets, petrol companies and etc.

I hope the Government would create a law to make it mandatory for fingerprints to be used when applying for credit cards, both new and replacement of lost cards, besides the signature on the forms.

One could easily forge signatures and obtain photocopies of MyKad, leaving victims to fight legal cases through no fault of their own.

The fingerprint requirement should also be imposed on all transactions involving money, such as bank loans, sales and purchase agreements and so on.

It’s impossible to forge or duplicate a fingerprint and it will not cost much to add it onto a document. It won’t take too much time either.

More importantly, it would clarify many legal issues.