Opposition calls for a mechanism to compensate scam victims

The opposition today called on Putrajaya to establish a mechanism to provide compensation for victims of scammers, saying that the country should emulate its neighbour Singapore.

PKR Information chief Fahmi Fadzil told a press conference at the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya yesterday that the country also needs to amend the relevant laws to help those who fall victim to scams.

"(The country) needs to establish a compensation mechanism such as the recovery funds set up by the Singapore Monetary Authority.

"This ensures scam victims get compensation as soon as possible. We must also amend relevant laws like the Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, which can provide insurance and compensation for savings affected by scammers," he said.

Fahmi was speaking at a press conference that was held to highlight the plight of a 36-year-old hairstylist from Kedah, who lost almost RM50,000 after his money was transferred from his bank account with permission.

Also, Bernama reported that five more Malaysians who had fallen victim to job scam syndicates in Cambodia returned home yesterday.

PKR also called all financial institutions to publish annual reports on how many scam cases they have come across and the amount of losses that they have encountered every year.

"(The government needs to) make it compulsory for banks and other financial institutions involved in online transactions (like e-wallets) to state in their annual reports how many scam cases they have faced.

"They must also state the amount of losses involved, based on police reports that have been lodged so that shareholders and the public will know what the situation is like at each bank or e-wallet and make an informed decision," Fahmi said.

Fahmi also demanded that:

• The government sets up a one-stop centre to help scam victims. The centre must involve authorities from across all the relevant agencies such as the police, Communications and Multimedia Commission and Bank Negara;

• All online banking authorisations must move away from using SMS TAC to a safer alternative;

• Have all telecommunications companies make public announcements via phone calls by mimicking the scripts used by scammers - but with a warning message; and

• Obtain cooperation from Asean and Interpol to arrest and extradite all scammers who are based overseas.

Meanwhile, the Bernama report quoted a Foreign Ministry statement, issued last night, as saying that the five scam victims arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 2pm yesterday.

148 Cambodian job scam victims rescued

It said with this development, a total of 148 victims of job scams in Cambodia had been rescued out of 158 cases reported.

"Of the number of rescued victims, 29 are still in the immigration detention depot in Cambodia while the rest have returned home.

"The Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh is actively pursuing efforts to track down Malaysians who are reported to be victims of job scams," the statement.

The ministry is intensifying efforts to rescue Malaysians who were duped by these syndicates in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand through the Malaysian embassies in those countries, it said, adding that a total of 16 Malaysians have been rescued in Thailand, Laos (27) and Myanmar (five).

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