Amends to act addressing online scams to be tabled in October’s Parliament sitting, says Azalina

KUALA LUMPUR: Amendments to the Penal Code Act 574 and Act 593 to address online scams involving mule accounts are expected to be tabled in the next Parliament sitting in October, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (pic).

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) said such criminal activities can be curbed effectively and comprehensively through amendments to the two Acts.

“The government is currently considering amending both Acts which will involve new offences relating to any individuals allowing their bank accounts to be used by other parties without valid authority.

“It would also grant authority to the investigators to call for the seizure of bank accounts suspected of being involved in cybercrime activities,” she told the Dewan Rakyat during the Ministers’ Question Time session here, on Thursday (July 4).

Azalina added that the amendments are expected to be presented in this Parliament session after receiving approval from the Cabinet.

She said the existing laws have no provisions that allocate for the offences of bank account owners allowing their accounts to be used by other parties for illegal activities hence, there is an urgent need to protect the public from being exposed to become victims of online fraud.

“There is also no provision for the police to use to block the movement of the victim’s money from going to the mule accounts used.

“Due to this gap in the law and the urgent need to protect all layers of society from becoming victims of online fraud, the government is considering proposing amendments to the Penal Code (Act 574) and the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593) to comprehensively and effectively combat online fraud related to mule accounts,” she added.

Azalina was replying to a question by RSN Rayer (Pakatan Harapan-Jelutong) on the status of drafting legislation for offences related to mule accounts, and how this legislation can address the alarming increase in online financial fraud in the country due to the development of modern technology.

Elaborating further, she said that most online fraud activities, or online scams, are carried out using mule accounts where scammers use other people’s accounts as a hub or intermediary to store the victim’s money before it is transferred to another account.

“When investigations are conducted on these account holders, it is found that their accounts have been rented out or given access to others, either voluntarily or otherwise.

“What complicates the investigation process is that the account holders usually do not know the third parties who have used their bank accounts as a transit medium for the victim’s money,” she said.