KUCHING: The federal government has been urged to make it mandatory for banks to compensate scam victims whose savings have been transferred to a third party without their knowledge.
Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen said he had received many complaints from bank account holders that their savings had been transferred to a third-party account without their consent and knowledge.
The victims, he said, had also complained to the bank but most of the complaints were not dealt with properly and no compensation was given to them.
“Therefore, my suggestion is for the government to make it compulsory for banks to pay compensation to victims of bank scams.
“In my opinion, it can be made mandatory for banks to pay compensation for online scams. With this, it can push the bank to upgrade their e-banking security system and introduce standard operating procedures (SOPs) as well as stricter mechanisms for online transfer,” he said.
Chong said this in his debate speech on the Royal address during the Parliament sitting on today (Feb 20).
The Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman mentioned that Singapore was able to resolve a phishing scam issue that occurred in Dec 2021 within six months.
“In January last year, the bank compensated phishing scam victims 100 per cent of their losses as a form of goodwill and the police successfully apprehended those involved in the phishing syndicate in just two months.
“If Singapore can do it and it is an international financial centre, there is no reason why we cannot do it,” he pointed out.
He reiterated that it was fair and appropriate if it was mandatory for the bank to cover the losses due to online scams.
“Unless the bank has evidence of scams committed by the account holder themselves,” he said.
