PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should consider harsher punishments, including caning like Sin­g­a­­pore’s recent law, to curb misuse of bank accounts and disrupt scam networks, say experts. Singapore has passed amendments to its criminal law imposing mandatory caning for scammers and discretionary caning for mules involved in scams. Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said he fully supports impo­sing harsher punishments on scammers, similar to those used in Singapore. With Singapore introducing caning as one of the penalties against scammers, Comm Rusdi said Malaysia should also consi­der harsher punishments for scam­mers. Ram said such harsher penalties may deter some opportunistic participation, but on their own, do not materially disrupt the business model of scam syndicates.

Source: The Star January 09, 2026 06:15 UTC