Appoint a trusted contact to avoid scams

ACCORDING to police statistics, 66,204 online fraud cases were recorded in 2025, an increase of 87% from 35,368 in 2024.

Losses reached RM2.97bil, with non-existent investment schemes alone accounting for RM1.47bil. Behind these figures are many elderly Malaysians who lost their savings.

Today, fraudsters have a powerful new tool. With a few seconds of someone’s voice taken from social media, artificial intelligence can produce a convincing imitation of a son, daughter or grandchild calling in distress and asking for money urgently. For an elderly parent who hears a familiar voice crying for help, the instinct to act immediately is almost impossible to resist.

Banks have already strengthened their security, including moving transaction approvals into banking apps. These measures help, but they cannot stop a customer who willingly transfers money because they believe a loved one is in danger.

I would like to propose a simple measure: allow customers aged 60 and above to register a “trusted contact” with their bank. A trusted contact would be a family member or friend chosen by the customer.

If the bank detects an unusual transaction, such as a large transfer to a new recipient, it could call the trusted contact before taken further action.

The trusted contact would have no power over the account or access to it. Their role would simply be to provide a second, calm voice at a moment when the customer may be under pressure.

The idea is not new. In the United States, brokerage firms are required to make reasonable efforts to obtain the name of a trusted contact person for customer accounts, precisely to help protect older investors from exploitation.

Banks here could combine this with other optional safeguards such as a lower daily transfer limit that the customer chooses in advance, a short waiting period for large payments to first-time recipients, and a dedicated hotline staffed by officers trained to recognise signs that a caller is being coached by a fraudster.

Families also have a role to play. Agree on a family code word that any genuine caller can confirm.

Remind parents that no real emergency requires secrecy from the rest of the family.

And if money has been lost, call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 immediately because every minute counts in stopping the funds from moving on.

MOHD FUDZAIL MOHD NOR

Petaling Jaya