PETALING JAYA: Banks and telecommunication companies should be held liable for negligence when scams take place, but consumers too should play their part to ensure they do not become scam targets, say the police.
This was in response to the statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that banks may have to reimburse scam victims if negligence by the institution is identified, leading to the occurrence of a scam.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that as financial institutions are regulated by the laws and Bank Negara Malaysia, they have a duty to be responsible to their account holders.“The Prime Minister is not saying that the banks have to be wholly liable when a scam takes place just like that, but it must be due to the negligence of the bank itself,” said Comm Ramli.
“The context must be where the bank has been proven negligent. If the consumer is found to be negligent, it would then be unfair to expect the bank to reimburse the money.
“The Prime Minister had made it very clear that not all the blame should be shouldered by the bank. If that is so, then no one will be vigilant and responsible.
“It must be proven that the bank has been negligent, only then can the bank compensate.
“This can be seen in the case of MBSB Bank in the heist of RM24mil in the Sabah branch last June. The bank reimbursed the account holders.
“If you are to put all the liability on the banks, then it would not be fair.”
In a statement on June 27, MBSB Bank stated that it had returned all the money to the customers who were affected.
In that case, RM24.2mil was stolen through illegal withdrawals with forged MyKad identities by a syndicate.
Comm Ramli said that during investigations, more often than not, consumers were also negligent despite the financial institutions having taken all the precautions and acting responsibly.
