On 18 August this year, a businesswoman in Johor Bahru lost more than RM1 million in a Macau scam after answering a call from the "Inland Revenue Board".
Three days after that, a 74-year-old woman from Muar lost RM1.34 million in a Macau Scam after receiving a phone call claiming that she was involved in fraud and illegal activities. She exposed her account to the scammers.
Then on 30 August, a senior citizen also from Johor Bahru lost about RM1.87 million in a parcel scam after befriending a woman, believed to be a foreigner, through social media who promised to send goods and cash amounting to RM12.6 million to the victim.
Besides three cases of scams are occurred in Johore, Meta Malaysia claimed that 72,000 online scams caused victims to lose a whopping RM5.2 billion in the past two years and the top five most prevalent online scams were e-commerce, illegal loans, jobs, investment schemes and money muling.
No country or organisation is immune to cyber-attacks. Everyone is a potential of victim of scams. Scams are a lucrative business and easy way to make money.
Malaysia saw a worrying, upward trend and drastic increase in online scams over the last two years during the Covid-19 pandemic and a total of 71,833 scams, amounting to more than RM5.2 billion in losses.
The cases involved online sales scams, online trading scams, African scams, Macau scams, Business Email Compromised (BEC) scams, fake loans, and SMS scams.
The latest data from January-July 2022, there were over 12,000 cases of online fraud involving losses of RM415 million. The police detained 33,147 cybercrime suspects, and 22,196 were charged.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost $6.1 billion to scams last year, top the list identity theft, imposter scams, credit bureau, shopping and banks and lenders.
Firms and individuals in Singapore faced an increased number of cybercrimes, phishing and ransomware threat and lost $633.3 million to scams in 2021, 2.5 times more than previous year. Police said that 90 per cent of scams originate from overseas, and described the scammers as syndicated, well-resourced, and technologically sophisticated.
Scammers are trained in psychological manipulation, quick to exploit the weakness or low awareness, ignorance and vulnerability of their victims. They always come out with new techniques, exploiting technology and the gaps that exist in the financial system.
BNM have introduced additional action to be taken by banks, to ensure that banking and payment channels remain secure and equipped with up-to-date security controls as follows:
- Migrate from SMS One Time Passwords (OTP) to more secure forms of authentication for online activities or transactions;
- Tightening fraud detection rules and alerting customers when activities involving their banking account is detected;
- Customers will be restricted to only one mobile or device for the authentication of online banking transactions. There will also be a cooling-off period for first-time enrolments of online banking services or devices;
- Setting up dedicated hotlines for customers to report financial scam incidents
- Facilitate efforts to recover and protect stolen funds, including working with relevant agencies to prevent further losses and
- Provide convenient ways for customers to suspend their bank accounts that have been compromised as a result of a scam and subsequently reactivate their accounts after a reasonable period to ensure that their accounts are secure.
Therefore, there is no end if the public keep down loading the fake applications or software created by cyber criminals and refuse to believe they have been scammed.
It was noted that most scams happen due to lack of consistent awareness and lackadaisical attitude of certain public towards online banking. The best way of defence is education by businesses and the government to close up any loopholes for attacks and other recommended awareness campaign to be taken by all parties to the public must include the followings:
- Use verified apps only;
- Browse on authorised websites only;
- Use secure connections only;
- Keep your passwords secret;
- Be vigilant while using the card;
- Do not compromise on security software for phones/computers;
- Do not share personal information with anyone;
- Never click on suspicious links on SMS or emails.
Bank may have all the technologies, policies, and procedures in place in compliance with international and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) standard but sill scams happen, meaning there are loopholes in banking systems. It requires collaborative efforts from all parties to address the issues such as BNM, PDRM, MCMC, banks, and Cyber Security experts need to identify the ring, syndicates and address some mule accounts and suspicious transactions.
Each of the public is also responsible and has a role in protecting themselves from scams. The public is better to be unfriendly person and to be safe. If you receive a call or email from an unknown source, ignore it but report to the police 03-26101559 or 03-26101599 and via WhatsApp at 013-2111222.They can also check the 'Semak Mule' portal at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my or via smartphone applications.
DATUK SERI AKHBAR SATAR
Director, Institute of Crime and Criminology, HELP University
