Bank Negara faster in tracing scam funds, mule accounts with National Fraud Portal

With faster tracking, the amount of funds frozen has also increased

Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying said the National Fraud Portal and the National Scam Response Centre assist financial institutions in tracing funds scammed from victims. - Information Department pic, October 22, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR — The National Fraud Portal (NFP) has reduced the time required to trace funds stolen through scams by 75% to just 30 minutes and has increased the amount of funds frozen by 28%, Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying said.

Launched in April 2024, the portal is an integrated platform that together with the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), enables financial institutions to trace financial scams and identify mule accounts.

Lim told the Dewan Rakyat today that the portal has increased the capability of banks to trace mule accounts by 14%.

“Through the NFP, the NSRC are now equipped with comprehensive automation capabilities to manage fraud reports, verify and trace stolen funds, and enable early warning sharing among financial institutions so that swift action can be taken.”

Lim was answering a question by Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri), who asked about measures taken by Bank Negara to enhance security against fraud.

The NFP is aided by procedures developed by industry experts on identifying and handling mule accounts, she added.

Additionally, control measures implemented since September 2022 have enabled financial institutions to block unauthorised and suspicious transactions worth RM383 million in 2023.

“The trend of phishing and malware fraud cases reported to the NSRC has also shown a decline,” she said.

She stressed that it is important for financial fraud victims to report the crime as soon as possible by contacting the NSRC at 997 so that financial institutions can take swift action. – October 22, 2024