KUALA LUMPUR, 6 Jan 2009: The National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) has urged Bank Negara to introduce new guidelines for banks to curb credit card fraud.
NCCC chief executive Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said the number of cases involving credit card fraud and loss of credit cards at pump stations nationwide exceeded 1,000 last year compared to 809 in 2007.
“For example, fraud cases at pump stations happen because there are no security characteristics when users pay using credit cards.
“They only need to swipe without entering pin numbers or passwords. Hence, people can easily use credit cards belonging to others without any confirmation or passwords when making transactions,” he told reporters here today.
He said banks should require their customers to use passwords when making credit card transactions at pump stations, online and on the phone.
Sha’ani said Bank Negara should also disallow a third party from applying for credit cards on the behalf of others.
“There was a case where a customer was asked to fill a credit card form only to buy an item. The seller then sent the form to a bank and imposed excessive charges on the customer. This is a crime,” he said.
He said the guidelines should also empower the authorities to automatically terminate suspicious transactions.
NCCC, set up in 2004 by consumer associations in collaboration with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, is a one-stop centre for the public to lodge complaints especially against traders. — Bernama
