'Kill switch' can prevent scam victims from suffering hefty losses, says the cops

KUALA LUMPUR: The "kill switch" initiative announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, when tabling the Budget 2023 recently can prevent victims of scams from suffering hefty losses, says the police.

The kill switch would be introduced for customers to deactivate their bank account and application (app) access should they notice something peculiar or believe that they have been scammed.

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Royal Malaysia Police secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said such a system was being used in other countries, including Singapore.

"The Kill Switch initiative will be introduced by Bank Negara through which people can prevent scammers or any unauthorised parties from accessing bank accounts of would-be victims and causing further outflow of funds.

"The police fully support this initiative. The kill switch is a self-service security feature that lets you protect your funds from online scams and enhances your online banking security.

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"If you suspect that you are a victim of scam, you can use the kill switch to temporarily deactivate your bank account,” she said in a statement here Wednesday (March 1).

Noorsiah added that the police would also like to advise the people to be alert and careful when receiving link calls or telephone applications from unknown sources and they should not share their personal information or bank account details to anybody.

According to the statement, victims can immediately contact the bank or National Scam Response Center at 997 if they realise that they have been scammed.

She also urged members of the public to check their bank account and phone number involved in such crimes through the semakmule.rmp.gov.my website. - Bernama