Digital era consumer issues more challenging to fend off

KUALA LUMPUR: This article is in conjunction with World Consumer Rights Day which is observed on March 15 every year.

Like it or not the COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a catalyst for digital transformation, including the growth of e-commerce activities, in Malaysia.

According to an analysis by GlobalData, a United Kingdom-based data analytics and consulting company, in September last year, Malaysia's e-commerce market was estimated to grow by 24.7 percent in 2020 while its value is expected to surge to RM51.6 billion by 2024.

The rising trend in online transactions has, however, exposed consumers to various new challenges and risks.

Senior lecturer and head of Advanced Communication Research Unit at Universiti Utara Malaysia Dr Mohd Khairie Ahmad said based on statistics from the Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) under CyberSecurity Malaysia, online fraud dominated reports involving cybersecurity incidents.

Over the last two years (2019 and 2020), online fraud comprised 70 percent of the cybersecurity incidents reported compared with an average of 48 percent in the previous three years (2018, 2017 and 2016).

Meanwhile, in the first two months of this year, online fraud comprised 65.1 percent of the 1,916 cybersecurity incidents reported to MyCERT.

MISLEAD CONSUMERS

Elaborating on this issue, Mohd Khairie said two aspects of communication are associated with consumerism issues involving digital transactions or e-commerce.

"The first is product communication or how a product or service is promoted. Sometimes product information can be changed deliberately to cheat unsuspecting consumers. They can also be cheated when information and images are presented using certain applications or software to mislead them.

"Second is the lack of communication savviness among consumers. This includes the lack of skills to determine the authenticity of e-commerce information. The situation can get worse if the consumer is not so literate on matters concerning consumerism," he told Bernama.

Consumers are also more likely to be exposed to fraud if they are inexperienced in online transactions or are not savvy enough to look for more information or query the seller, as well as make comparisons and assess the product communication, he said.

"At times, the consumer doesn't even realise he is being manipulated," he added.

Many consumers are also unaware that online communication can lead to their personal information being filtered and extracted without their knowledge.

Such information is usually sold as a commodity to third parties that bombard the consumers concerned with advertisements and promotions of their products via online or conventional means.

BORN-DIGITAL GENERATION

Meanwhile, referring to an October 2020 report by leading financial consulting firm Deloitte, Mohd Khairie said consumers aged between 21 and 40 were the major drivers of e-commerce in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia.

"Based on the study by Deloitte, it can be deduced that e-commerce is not only dominated by the 'born-digital' generation but also the 'digital immigrants', following current technological developments that have had an impact on all levels of society and ages," he said.

The assumption that only the younger generation who were born and raised during the digital era were inclined towards e-commerce is incorrect as many of those born before the Internet era are also actively involved in online transactions, he said, adding that this has "rendered digital era consumer issues more challenging to handle".

Sharing her views, Associate Prof Dr Masitah Ahmad of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) agreed that a major proportion of Malaysian society, regardless of age, is heading towards becoming digitally savvy, triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in movement restrictions and more people "migrating" to online platforms to connect, work and carry out transactions and other activities.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Internet Users Survey 2020 showed that the number of Internet users rose by 1.3 percent to 88.7 percent of the population in 2020 compared with 87.4 percent in 2018.

The survey also revealed that 98.1 percent of users used the Internet for text communication, social media (93.3 percent), watching videos (87.3 percent), voice/video communication (81.1 percent) and sourcing information (74.3 percent).

"Among the issues linked to the born-digital generation is information overload, which can make anyone an 'expert' in any field such as medicine or health by just referring to information sourced from the Internet. If this matter is left unchecked, it can lead to the circulation of fake news, as well as give rise to syndicates offering fraudulent products and services that can pose a threat to consumers," pointed out Masitah, who is attached to the Faculty of Information Management at UiTM's Rembau campus in Negeri Sembilan.

She also said it would not be an exaggeration to say that the born-digital generation is more prone to being involved in hacking and scamming incidents as they can misuse the skills and information they are equipped with.

Urging the government and the authorities concerned to formulate the necessary guidelines and ethics to prevent the abuse of the Internet, she said the rapid pace of development in digital technology warrants parents and society to educate the younger generation and monitor their usage of digital platforms.

PROTECT CONSUMER RIGHTS

On the protection of consumer rights in the digital era, Mohd Khairie said although Malaysia already has several laws to prevent online fraud and protect the rights of consumers, greater stress, however, needs to be laid on the enforcement aspect.

Apart from the Consumer Protection Act 1999 and Electronic-Commerce Act 2006, the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 also assures the safety and confidentiality of users' personal information.

"It's important for enforcement agencies to be equipped with personnel who are experts in cybersecurity to protect the rights of users. To earn the trust of users, the cyber communication unit that monitors digital users affairs must have strategies to provide a safe e-commerce environment," he said.

He also said in view of the dynamic and innovative nature of communication technology, digital-based consumer education has the potential to enhance digital consumer literacy.

"The development of applications to carry out self-assessment of digital literacy can help to create a more conducive ecosystem," he added.

INTELLIGENT CYBERCRIME

Malaysian Cyber Consumers Association president Siraj Jalil said cybercrime has now entered the "intelligent" phase where syndicates use personal data to manipulate their victims.

He said e-commerce users, in particular, are easily manipulated as they are unaware that cybercriminals have "evolved to a different level".

Data from social media analytics firm Hootsuite showed that Malaysians were among the highest users of e-commerce platforms in the world and ranked fourth in terms of penetration rate and seventh in terms of usage of digital banking.

As such, the onus is on users to pay close attention to all their online transactions and ensure the authenticity of product advertisements placed by companies online.

"Before buying any product online, check the status of the company via 'Semak Mule PDRM' (a portal by the police providing information on online companies involved in scamming activities) and refer to the people around you," he said.

Siraj urged victims of scammers to make a police report immediately and provide information related to the banking transactions, telephone numbers and other details.

"They should also immediately change their digital banking and email passwords and lodge a report with the personal data protection authority or MCMC if their personal information has been misused by a third party," he added.

-- BERNAMA