Mp Moots Fingerprint System At Atms To Trace Scammers

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DAP’s Chong Chieng Jen says this can help flag scammers who make frequent withdrawals from multiple bank accounts.
DAP MP Chong Chieng Jen noted that cash withdrawals were often done at ATM machines, with scammers using cards belonging to mule accounts.KUALA LUMPUR: With more Malaysians losing their savings to online scams, a backbencher has suggested that banks introduce a fingerprint system to help flag scammers who withdraw money from multiple accounts
Chong Chieng Jen (PH-Stampin) said this would mean that when scammers transferred money from one account to another, the money would be trackable as it would remain within the banking system.
He noted that cash withdrawals were often done at ATM machines, with the scammers using cards belonging to mule accounts.
“Therefore, I suggest that it be made mandatory for all banks to introduce a fingerprint system for cash withdrawals from ATM machines.
“Anyone recorded with frequent withdrawals of cash from multiple accounts can be traced and flagged as a fraud suspect,” he said while debating the 2026 Supply (Budget) Bill in the Dewan Rakyat.
The DAP MP also said online scams still posed a significant national problem, with figures as of September showing that Malaysians had lost RM1.91 billion to online scams, RM339 million higher than the RM1.58 billion last year.
“It seems that the government’s creation of the National Scam Response Centre is not that effective in addressing this problem,” he added.
More money for VM2026 campaign
Separately, Chong said the 2026 budget did not provide significantly higher funding for the Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) tourism campaign, despite its aim of attracting 47 million foreign tourists and generating RM329 billion for the national tourism sector.
He said the campaign’s RM1.56 billion allocation for 2026 marked an increase of only 10% from the RM1.41 billion allocation given this year.
“Therefore, I call upon the government to increase the allocation to the tourism, arts and culture ministry so that the VM2026 campaign can be implemented more effectively and achieve its targets,” he said. - FMT

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