BACHOK: The incidence of online crime from has gone up by 23% from January to September this year compared to the same period in 2022, according to statistics from Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department.
Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching said 19,224 cases were recorded this year compared to 15,659 cases for the same period in 2022.
She also said the value of such cases rose to RM687mil or 29% higher than the same period last year.
"The Cyber999 Help Centre operated by Cyber Security Malaysia recorded 4,898 cyber security incidents from January to October this year, with online fraud topping the list with 3,087 incidents," she said at the 2023 National Anti-Scam Tour opening in Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), here on Tuesday (Nov 14).
The Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan Dr Tengku Muhammad Faiz Petra Sultan Ismail Petra officiated the ceremony. Also present was Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin Daud.
Teo also said incidents of online fraud needed serious attention by all parties as the country is suffering from millions of ringgit of losses.
She said statistics showed that scam victims comprised Malaysians from all strata of society, including professionals such as lecturers, teachers, engineers, doctors and businessmen, as well as retirees and senior citizens.
"The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) also took down 4,013 accounts and content as at Oct 31 this year.
"During the same period, MCMC also blocked 1,764 fake websites for phishing," she said.
According to Teo, MCMC also blocked 410,590,277 unsolicited SMS from January to September this year while 19 million SMS with hyperlinks were also blocked from May 2 to September 2023.
She said a total of 79,322 mobile and terrestrial lines which sent dubious SMS were also terminated from January to September 2023.
"MCMC also blocked 553,173,467 suspicious calls," she said.
The 2023 National Anti-Scam Tour which began on Feb 18 in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, May 20 in Perlis as well as Sept 2 and 3 in Sarawak.
The tour was held on Oct 28 and 29 in Sabah and will proceed to Johor before ending in Putrajaya. – Bernama
