KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) is stepping up efforts to combat fraud and protect consumers from scammers.
According to ABM executive director Dr Amina Josetta Kayani, preventive measures have been ongoing and the association is intensifying its cooperation with banks to stop unscrupulous tricksters in their tracks.
“As we get better in managing ways to counter scams, unfortunately scammers get even smarter.
“The fraud and scam industry is certainly growing,” she told reporters during ABM’s media meet here yesterday.
According to Amina, trying to thwart scammers is akin to working on a moving target.
“Personally, I feel the best way to tackle this is to empower people so that they are equipped to manage when there may be a red flag or to protect themselves when needed,” she said.
She said some of the measures in place include efforts by the industry task force that encompasses the police, telecommunication companies, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and other relevant stakeholders.
“The task force meets regularly to discuss and run through campaigns to be implemented like the JanganKenaScam programme.
“There are also national anti-scam workshops that are being run,” she said.
Amina added that the main factor was creating an awareness of scams and the different ways people could lose money.
Paying attention to vulnerable groups, including senior citizens and persons with disabilities, was equally as important, said Amina.
Meanwhile, she said the banking industry is one of the many industries that have benefited in terms of digitalisation.
She said the Covid-19 pandemic played a big role in the acceleration of this, and the momentum has not slowed down.
However, she pointed out that there was no working group in ABM to drive the development as well as changes in the technology and digital space.
“We started off with a working group for that – a platform with a unified voice to look into the pain points.
“We also have a working group for environmental, social and governance efforts and reporting matters. We’ve had many engagements with stakeholders to continue driving change within the industry,” she said.
While different banks have different standard operating procedures, she said they have worked together with common goals.
Moving forward, Amina said ABM would continue focusing on supporting growth particularly for small and medium enterprises, promote social inclusion and amplify community impact.
“Our ongoing efforts also include financial literacy programmes,” she added.
