KUCHING, May 24 — A micro-businessman has allegedly fallen victim to an Internet scam, resulting in the closure of all his bank accounts and causing severe cash-flow difficulties.
Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen said the victim, identified only as Liaw, had been running a micro food business for two years and also took online orders.
He said the issue began when RM110 was deposited into the victim’s account in July 2025 by a student from Johor, who was later found to have been scammed.
“He also takes orders online. Unknown to him there was a payment of RM110 into his account sometime in July 2025 from a student in Johor.
“Thereafter, towards the end of 2025, a bank closed his account without giving any reason. Then, he thought it was some internal technical problem.
“However, last month, another bank informed him about the closure of his account,” Chong said in a statement.
He said the victim was later informed by another bank that his micro business loan application had been approved, but could not be disbursed due to a “blacklist” linked to his other account.
He said the victim only discovered the issue after approaching a bank, which informed him that a police report had been lodged over the RM110 transaction.
Chong said the victim then contacted the student through police assistance, refunded the RM110 and requested the student to withdraw the report so his name could be cleared.
However, he said the student is currently studying in China and will only return to Malaysia later this year.
Chong added that the police had informed the victim that even if the report is withdrawn, it would still take at least six months for his name to be removed from the blacklist.
He said the closure of multiple accounts had severely affected the victim’s business, as he could no longer accept online orders or conduct digital transactions.
Chong also said that, in response to rising online scams, banks have introduced a shared information platform, where accounts linked to scam reports may be flagged across multiple banks.
While acknowledging the need to combat online fraud, he said the current system had wrongly penalised innocent account holders like Liaw.
“While we need to combat online scams, there should be flexibility in the standard operating procedure, in that an innocent account-holder or micro-businessman may be wrongly punished and their livelihood destroyed,” he pointed out.
Chong added that banks should exercise greater prudence and conduct more detailed investigations to distinguish between mule accounts and legitimate business accounts.
“The problem with banks is that they will just apply a one-size-fit-all method and cannot be bothered to carry out more detailed investigation before blacklisting an account-holder, which in a way can be a ‘financial death-sentence’ to the account-holder,” he said.
He assured Liaw that he would highlight the problem with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Ministry of Finance (MoF) in the hope of seeing the victim’s account to be re-opened and his micro-loan can be disbursed.
“While BNM and MoF are tasked with planning the macro financial policies, the small individual’s right to survive must also be protected,” Chong added. — The Borneo Post
Date: 24 May, 2026 1:05 pm
Source: Malay Mail
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