KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 – Banks in Malaysia will impose additional requirements on new customer applications to weed out fraudsters who have transferred funds from stolen victims, sources said.
Accordingly Free Malaysia todayIndustry sources said this would likely mean that in addition to MyKad, applicants would now have to provide documents proving their source of income or letters from their employers.
Banks also pay special attention to students, housewives and senior citizens who want to open an account, as these groups are most often targeted by fraudsters.
“Some are innocent because they are unaware that their personal information is being used to open bank accounts that are then managed by the fraudsters.
“There are also some who were paid to open an account but are unaware that it was used to defraud people,” a source was quoted as saying.
Mule accounts are used by criminals to conduct illegal activities such as wire transfers or laundering money from fraud. These accounts are often set up by third parties, known as money mules, who may or may not be aware of their criminal activities.
Students in particular may be required to present proof of university place and their student ID when opening an account.
In 2022, a total of 12,659 people were arrested and charged with various crimes related to the use of mule accounts, which is still not recognized as a crime in parts of Malaysia.
According to authorities, 34,497 fraud cases were reported nationwide last year, causing total losses of RM1.218 billion.
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