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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysians have reported a total of 31,169 online fraud cases from the beginning of last year until June 2022, according to Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
In a written parliamentary reply, Tengku Zafrul said most cases of financial fraud occurred when consumers unknowingly revealed their banking details to scammers who often employ creative schemes.
“For example, syndicates employing house cleaning services or food deliveries ask customers to download an APK app (Android Package Kit), which is able to read text messages without the victim’s knowledge, that comes along with a fake payment or money transfer screen,” he said to a question posed by Teresa Kok (Seputeh-PH).
There are also syndicates that pose as authorities or financial institutions as a trick to collect victims’ personal banking details.
Throughout last year, Malaysia reported 20,701 online fraud cases compared to only 10,468 cases up till June of this year.
Online shopping scams were recorded at 9,499 last year as compared to 4,460 cases as of June of this year.
This was followed by non-existent loans (4,784 cases), misleading investments (3,195), Macau scams (1,585), love scams (1,460), business email compromised (57), and SMS scams (121) in 2021.
As of June 2022, there were non-existent loan fraud cases (1,621), misleading investments (1,780), Macau scams (1,918), love scams (415), business email compromised (25) and SMS scams (69).
Tengku Zafrul then advised the public not to share personal banking details willingly and to always conduct due diligence on any payment processes. – The Vibes, July 29, 2022
