Web Desk
SAS Institute Inc., a global analytics and AI company, is ramping up efforts to fight financial fraud in Malaysia by using advanced technologies to address increasingly complex threats.
Febrianto Siboro, SAS managing director for Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, said local banks are facing more sophisticated scams, including deepfakes, cryptocurrency fraud, and mule accounts.
“These fraud types are rising fast and causing huge financial losses,” he noted. SAS data shows 454 deepfake cases in Malaysia have already led to losses of RM2.27 million.
Crypto-related scams have caused damage of RM1.6 billion across more than 35,000 cases. Meanwhile, over 200,000 mule accounts have been flagged since 2023.
SAS is tackling these issues by combining anti-money laundering (AML) strategies with fraud prevention on a single data platform.
Their system handles data management, risk assessment, detection, and reporting—streamlining how banks stay compliant and fight crime.
AI and machine learning are at the heart of this approach. SAS expects the use of generative AI in fraud prevention to triple in the next two years, with 83% of institutions planning to adopt it.
However, Siboro stressed that technology alone isn’t enough. Human skills remain vital in interpreting insights and guiding actions.
SAS is helping banks shift to unified analytics systems that not only detect fraud but also support regulatory reporting and key business decisions.
This approach positions compliance as a valuable asset, enabling banks to unlock greater insights from their data.
Looking ahead, SAS predicts major changes in how financial crimes evolve.
By 2025, many banks will reach advanced stages of AI use, embracing tools like behavioral analytics, automated alerts, and real-time risk scoring.
