Budget 2023: NSRC set up to combat rising online scams

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) is being set up to deal with online scams or frauds that have become a global problem and an increasingly serious issue in the country.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the NSRC will be jointly managed by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC) in cooperation with various financial institutions.

He added that the centre will begin operations this month and will act against any reports lodged to block bank accounts and take enforcement actions against criminals.

"This will include tightening of internet banking security measures by banking institutions to stop the use of SMS-based One-Time Passwords (OTP) for high-risk online transactions.

"Also, the platform will enable the public to report any bank accounts or telephone numbers suspected of being used by online scammers," he said when tabling Budget 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Tengku Zafrul said the initiative was also to intensify financial and digital literacy awareness among users to reduce the risk of being a scam victim.

Meanwhile, the government will further strengthen CyberSecurity Malaysia by allocating RM73 million to strengthen cyber threat monitoring, tracking and reporting, including building cyber forensic systems.

"To protect credit consumers while promoting a fair and orderly consumer credit market, the government is committed to table the Consumers' Credit Bill in the second quarter of next year.

"Through this effort, an independent agency, the Consumers' Credit Monitoring Board, under the Finance Ministry will be established to monitor all activities related to consumer credit," he said.

-- BERNAMA