LETTER: Recently, many Malaysians were shocked by the Macau scam case where five individuals were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on suspicion of being involved in scam and money laundering.
Forty per cent of the victims of such scams are seniors and pensioners. Agencies and banking institutions need to step up to combat this crime. What can be done?
First, provide information that is easy to understand, especially for the older generation, about potential threats and scams, including how to keep themselves safe. A scam prevalent in Malaysia is the Transaction Authorisation Code (TAC) scam.
In 2018 alone, this scam fleeced Malaysians almost of RM15 million! Usually, the scammer will call the victim and politely ask him to send the TAC numbers that the victim had received via SMS, claiming that the TAC numbers had been sent to the wrong phone number.
When scammers obtain the TAC numbers, the transaction is considered "authorised" and successful. While they may sound genuine, do not believe them. While we're about TAC numbers, have you heard about Secure2u? It is Maybank's other payment authentication method that is believed to be more secure.
Instead of sending the user an SMS to authorise transactions, which could be taken over (using SIM swap attacks) or stolen by mobile phone malware, the user will receive a six-digit TAC number or a push notification from the Maybank app. Thus, it is vital for banks to provide software-based authenticator to users instead of relying on vulnerable channels like SMS.
Second, the authorities should have a well-trained team with sufficient skills and knowledge to resolve these crimes and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice. The team must be equipped with high-tech skills and use cutting-edge software to deal with scammers.
For banking institutions, transaction monitoring software should be used by integrating the system with transaction screening tools so that banks can monitor the recipient and sender of any financial transaction.
In brief, if the system catches a match (unusual or large transaction) via the screening process, the software will raise the alarm and alert bank officers for further action.
Another way is by deploying intelligent prevention strategies via artificial intelligence (AI) to predict fraud activities before the damage is done. Banks need to redesign consumer and internal transactions and processes based on a constant evaluation of current cases of fraud, financial crime and cyber threat.
For instance, based on past data on Macau scams, AI can analyse and learn how the scamming process is done, at what time, the potential victims, the contents of the calls and so on. Calls can quickly be analysed and if a call is found to be part of a fraud, the system will immediately shut down the conversation.
According to tech experts, this can significantly prevent scams and boost the banks' and customers' security.
AFIFAH SUHAIMI
EMIR Research
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times