Scam response centre hailed timely

Eyes on scammers: The National Scam Response Centre will act based on reports received to block accounts. — Filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: Forming the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) is timely with the worrying increase in scam cases, says Universiti Teknologi Mara School of Media and Information Warfare Studies’ security and political analyst Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin.

“We hope the setting up of such a central agency and budget accorded to CyberSecurity Malaysia will lead to more awareness and more participation from the public in curbing scams and cybercrimes,” he said.The government announced in Budget 2023 the formation of the NSRC that will be operational this month.

The centre involves cooperation between the police, Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC).

It will act based on reports received to block accounts as well as take action against criminals.

Banking institutions will also tighten security measures for Internet banking by stopping the use of SMS one time-passwords (OTPs) for high-risk transactions.

CyberSecurity Malaysia is also allocated RM73mil, which will, among others, improve monitoring, tracking and reporting of cyberthreats including developing cyberforensic system capability.

“We believe the funds allocated to CyberSecurity will be used to develop a manual on how people can lodge reports on the numbers of suspected scammers while increasing financial literacy among the public.“We hope such efforts will lead to people becoming more wary and vigilant against tactics used by scammers, which are ever changing,” Noor Nirwandy said.

Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch Thief (Marah) founder Dave Averan said the initiative to set up the NSRC was timely and welcomed, given the rampant and increasing occurrence of various financial scams on a daily basis worldwide.

“It is good that CyberSecurity Malaysia, the police, Bank Negara and MCMC are co-opted, as this collaboration provides synergy and a faster resolution to such cases.

“As in all things Malaysian, this good initiative will boil down to the actual implementation and effective carrying out of their responsibilities. Marah will definitely be keeping an eye on this,” he said.