Malaysian banks to curb the online scams' ;Carelessness, Lease your bank account to scammers?

PETALING JAYA: Banks will introduce a new layer of security as they work closely with cyber security authorities and the police to combat the proliferation of online fraud.

Cybersecurity Malaysia said fraud cases reported to the agency had doubled from 606 in 2009 to 1,328 in 2010 and 3,142 last year.

“As of April this year, we received nearly 2,000 cases of online banking fraud,” said its CEO Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri, who confirmed that the agency was joining forces with the Association of Banks Malaysia to combat Internet scams.

Going the extra mile: A third layer of security is to be adopted for online systems soon.

 

The agency, under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, will work with banks to carry out an intensive campaign to raise awareness of the scams.

The matter has become so serious that CIMB and Maybank recently made a concerted effort to warn of online banking scams by taking a full page advertisement in The Star, urging their customers to report immediately if they received a TAC (Transaction Authorisation Code) which had not been requested.

The TAC, which is sent by SMS to the registered mobile phone of the user, is the second layer of security. The first is the login credentials the username and password.

According to Macro Kiosk Bhd, the mobile service provider for 16 local banks, financial institutions might adopt a “third layer” of security for their online systems soon.

The “Third Factor Authentication” feature will detect attempts to hack into online banking accounts based on the location of the user's mobile.

“It will allow banks to detect the location of the computer used to log into the account and match it with the location of the user's mobile phone.

“For example, if the person accessing the account is found to be outside Malaysia, while the user's mobile phone is in this country, it is likely that something is not right,” said Macro Kiosk CEO Kenny Goh.

The user would then be sent an SMS to confirm if they wanted to continue with the transaction.

“This will alert the user if someone is trying to hack into his or her online banking account.”

By P. ARUNA aruna@thestar.com.my

Hectic lives can lead to carelessness, says cyber cop

PETALING JAYA: It is not always greed or ignorance that leads people to become victims of online scams. Sometimes, a hectic schedule could be the cause.

“Due to our busy schedules, we tend to overlook or forget to be wary of online fraud ... until it happens to us,” said Cybersecurity Malaysia CEO Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri.

He related an incident involving a professional who ended up losing all the money in his bank account within minutes.

“He was about to go out for a meeting when he decided to quickly check his e-mail before leaving the office.

“He then saw one supposedly from his bank asking him to click on a link to update his account details.

“As he was in a hurry, he clicked on the link without much thought and followed the instructions as he was eager to proceed to his meeting.

“It was only much later that he remembered what he had done with the e-mail.

“Suddenly, it occurred to him that it was a hoax because he had heard about such a scam before.”

Husin said that although the victim contacted the agency, it was already too late.

He said Cybersecurity Malaysia had a two-minute video on how to avoid becoming a victim of banking scams that could be downloaded for free from its website http://www.cybersafe.my/video/banking/Banking.wmv.

He said scammers were always “up-to-date” and took advantage of the latest banking trends and offers.

“When a bank launches a mobile banking service, the scammer will also launch a new trick to cheat mobile banking users.

“This year, several new malware known as mobile banking trojans that mimic mobile banking applications have emerged,” he said.

He advised users to pay close attention to security messages posted on online banking websites.

“These initiatives are to help you, they are for your benefit,” said Husin

It doesn’t pay to lease your bank account to scammers

GEORGE TOWN: Two civil servants were nabbed for their alleged involvement in a ‘Macau-scam’ where the victims were cheated of millions of ringgit here.

Both of them were among three people arrested by the police on the mainland.

Penang Commercial Crime Department chief Asst Comm Roslee Chik said the suspects, in their 20s and 30s, had allowed the syndicate members to use their bank accounts for ‘illicit’ money to be deposited.

He said initial investigations showed that the suspects were given commissions by the syndicate for leasing out their accounts.

ACP Roslee said the syndicate members would impersonate personnel from the Home Ministry, Bukit Aman and Bank Negara.

“They use the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, to replicate phone numbers of the police, Bank Negara and other govern­ment agencies to call family members of those implicated in criminal activities overseas.

“The family members would then be told to transfer their money into an account given by the syndicate members, so that the family would not have their assets or bank accounts frozen by the authorities,” he said yesterday.

ACP Roslee said during a press conference at the state police headquarters here that police were still tracking the mastermind behind the scam.

He also said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

He added that police were looking for Nazarime Siran, 29, to help in investigation into cheating cases involving the sale of second-hand cars.

Malaysian GDP grew 4.7% in Q1, 2012

Malaysia's economic growth slowed to 4.7 percent in the first quarter, the government said Wednesday, due to weakening exports sparked by a stuttering global economy and debt woes in Europe.

The slower expansion in the export-dependent Southeast Asian country came after the economy grew at a 5.2 percent clip in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Malaysia is one of the fastest growing developing countries

"Domestic demand remained firm, supported by both private and public sector economic activity, while exports moderated amid weaker external demand," Bank Negara, the central bank, said in a statement.

The bank has projected growth to expand four to five percent this year, slower than the 5.1 percent seen in 2011.

Economists said the slower growth indicated that the economy was "moderating at a better pace than expected" in light of the eurozone crisis.

"One of the headwinds hitting not just Malaysia but also regional economies is the very weak growth in Europe with some countries mired in recession," said Yeah Kim Leng, chief economist with financial research firm RAM Holdings.

"The concern here is of course the slowdown is affecting Asian exports including Malaysia, given its sizeable export sector."

But Yeah said he expected the Malaysian economy to grow at 4.6 percent in 2012, backed by strong domestic demand.

In early May, the central bank kept its key interest rate at 3.0 percent for the sixth time in a row to drive domestic demand.

Inflation was 2.3 percent in the first quarter and is expected to moderate to 2.5-3.0 percent for 2012 amid lower global commodity prices and modest growth in domestic demand.

The central bank said that while the challenging external environment would remain a risk to Malaysia's growth prospects, "domestic demand is expected to remain resilient".

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who must call fresh elections by April 2013 and faces a strengthening opposition, has set a goal of Malaysia becoming a "high-income developed nation" by 2020.

He said last year that annual growth of at least 6.0 percent was needed to achieve that.

Under the plan, Najib aims to double per capita income to 48,000 ringgit ($16,000) by 2020.

The government has promised major infrastructure projects and financial market liberalisation to attract foreign investment and boost growth, but critics say the results have been limited.

United we stand, divided we fall in South China Sea?

The continuing standoff between China and the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island) is a reminder that Asean needs to get its act together sooner rather than later.

THE South China Sea, spread over 3.6 million sq km, has long been a hotbed of overlapping bilateral and multilateral territorial claims.

China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over three-fourths of the South China Sea, including the Paracel and Spratly group of islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Scarborough Shoal. Parts of the Spratly islands are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The Paracels are claimed by China and Vietnam while the Scarborough Shoal involves the Philippines and China.

What makes these claims significant, and complicated, is the real possibility that the South China Sea may contain some of the world’s most significant deposits of oil and gas. Some estimates suggest that the region may contain as much as 20-30 billion tonnes of oil or 12% of global reserves.

Earlier this year, the Philippines invited foreign companies to drill for oil in the Scarborough Shoal area. China immediately condemned the move. The People’s Daily, in an editorial, even went so far as to call for “substantial moves, such as economic sanctions, to counter aggression from the Philippines”.

China has repeatedly stated that it wants to settle these conflicting claims through peaceful negotiations. However, it has not been averse to using force when challenged; it forcibly took the Paracels and seven of the Spratly islands from Vietnam following skirmishes in 1974 and 1988, respectively.

This stands in contrast to the peaceful resolution of island disputes between Malaysia and Singapore, and Malaysia and Indonesia, through the auspices of the International Court of Justice.

Malaysia and Thailand also set a sterling example in 1979 by agreeing to put aside overlapping boundary claims in the Gulf of Thailand and jointly exploiting oil resources there, a win-win situation for both sides. A similar agreement was signed between Malaysia and Vietnam in 1992.

Territorial sovereignty can, of course, be a highly emotive issue. Nations often work themselves into a frenzy and go to great lengths to defend a pile of rock, a shoal or a frozen bit of mountain.

India and Pakistan, for example, have squared off against each other for more than 20 years over a worthless patch of ice in the Himalayas, 5,700m above sea level.

More soldiers have died of harsh weather conditions than actual combat but the madness goes on with no end in sight.

In 1996, Asean ministers, recognising the potential for conflict arising from overlapping claims in the South China Sea, agreed to negotiate a regional framework for managing the issue. It has been a difficult process.

In 2002, Asean and China managed only a joint declaration committing themselves to the peaceful resolution of their territorial disputes. It has not, however, prevented tense situations from developing as we have seen in the Scarborough Shoal.

Understandably, Asean is extremely wary of upsetting China. China has become too big, too powerful, too overwhelming to antagonise.

At the same time, Asean is also deeply divided on the question of how to respond to issues that are strictly bilateral in nature or limited to just a few of its members.

The Philippines, for example, has long pressed for a tougher Asean position in order to strengthen its hand vis-à-vis China, something that other Asean countries have been reluctant to endorse fearing it will only lead to further confrontation.

There is, in fact, a sense within Asean that the Philippines has mismanaged its handling of the issue, a view that is also shared by quite a few Filipino commentators. Now that the United States has signalled its reluctance to be drawn into the dispute, Asean leaders are hoping Manila will reassess its position.

Asean needs to realise, however, that its greatest strength in dealing with China or any one else for that matter, on this or any other issue, is its own unity and solidarity. United it stands, divided it falls.

All issues that affect regional security, whether bilateral or multilateral in nature, need to be managed together for the good of the whole Asean community.

Asean leaders must, therefore, find common purpose to help develop an effective framework to resolve these kinds of disputes.

In the end, the options, short of war, in the South China Sea are limited.

China and the Asean countries can put aside their competing claims and jointly work to exploit the resources of the South China Sea, as Malaysia and Thailand have done, or resort to international arbitration.

The former could well lead to a real zone of peace, cooperation and prosperity and cement the already burgeoning relations between China and the Asean countries. The latter is bound to leave sore losers and a divided region.

For China, a win-win solution with Asean will also undercut efforts by other powers to exploit regional fears of China in an attempt to build new alliances aimed at Beijing.

Whatever it is, the worst thing Asean and China can do is to let the issue fester.

By Dennis Ignatius Diplomatically Speaking

> Datuk Dennis Ignatius is a 36-year veteran of the Malaysian foreign service. He has served in London, Beijing and Washington and was ambassador to Chile and Argentina. He was twice Undersecretary for American Affairs. He retired as High Commis­sioner to Canada in July 2008.

Related posts:
Who owns the South China Sea islets in the eyes of the world?
Manila provocation blasted; Philippine Newspaper: Huangyan ...
China warns Philippines over Huangyan Island as ...