Banking industry launches National Scam Awareness Campaign

PETALING JAYA: The banking industry has launched the National Scam Awareness Campaign (NSAC) in conjunction with the Financial Literacy Month 2022 (FLM2022) exhibition as a continuation of its efforts to combat and educate consumers regarding scams.

The campaign, supported by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), is jointly organised by the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM), Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) and Association of Development Finance Institutions Malaysia (ADFIM).

BNM deputy governor Datuk Marzunisham Omar said during the campaign, the public can expect to see more prominent scam awareness advertisements, messages and prompts on banks' own channels as well as mainstream and social media.

"I understand there will also be community outreach programmes to educate the public," he said at the launch of NSAC at IPC Shopping Centre here today.

Marzunisham said that BNM's priority is to ensure that banking and payment channels remain safe and secure.

"Given that the tactics used by criminals will continue to evolve, we will, where necessary, issue new security advisories and additional security measures for banks to take from time to time," he said.

On the five measures announced on Sept 26 to further strengthen the banks' controls and safeguards against financial scams, the deputy governor said banks are giving their full commitment and making progress in implementing the measures.

"For instance, banks are expediting the migration from SMS one-time password to a more secure forms of authentication when performing online transactions such as through mobile banking apps and hardware tokens," he said.

Marzunisham also advised the public to check frequently the Amaran Scam Facebook page by BNM, as well as Cyber Crime Alert and Semak Mule by the Royal Malaysian Police, for the latest updates.

As part of the NSAC launched today, the banking industry has created a logo to help members of the public to remember three simple steps -- also known as the three-second rule -- that is "Stop, Think and Block" when they receive calls, messages or emails from unknown parties.

Using the tagline "Ingat 3 Saat OK" and the hashtag #JanganKenaScam, the banking industry is urging the public to remember the three-second rule to keep safe and not fall victim to scams.

The NSAC campaign, which will be rolled out next month, is a continuation of the banking industry's efforts to combat and educate consumers regarding scams while sharing easy tips to stay safe online.

The campaign also complements the five key measures announced by BNM in September.

Also present at the launch were ABM chairman Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli, AIBIM president Mohd Muazzam Mohamed, and ADFIM vice chairman Jay Khairil Jeremy Abdullah.

A list of ABM member banks' contact numbers for reporting a scam and fraud can be obtained from ABM's website, https://www.abm.org.my/directory.

-- BERNAMA