Kuala Lumpur: Financial institutions should implement a cooling-off period of up to 72 hours for transactions to counter online fraud, according to Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.
He reportedly said banks must take proactive steps to reduce scams facilitated by online transactions, which continue to impact Malaysians.
“One of the ways is to have a longer cooling-off period, perhaps 48 or 72 hours. While it may affect genuine business transactions initially, people will adapt over time,” Ramli told English daily The Star.
He stressed that such measures could significantly reduce scam cases, helping to safeguard the public from substantial financial losses.
Ramli also called for stricter enforcement of the “know your customer” (KYC) policy, particularly for companies opening bank accounts.
“We are seeing a trend where companies can easily open accounts and register with banking systems. Unfortunately, some of these companies are being exploited as money mules, especially in investment scams,” he explained.
To tackle this, Ramli urged financial institutions to collaborate with the Companies Commission of Malaysia to thoroughly vet firms applying for accounts.
He revealed that online scams have caused losses of RM2.7 billion this year, with 30,724 cases recorded between January 1 and December 15 – a slight drop in case numbers but a 44 per cent surge in financial losses compared to RM1.9 billion last year.
