Growing threat: Experts and stakeholders are urging the government to direct funds towards better scam detection and awareness education in the face of rising AI-fuelled scams. — AZMAN GHANI /The Star
AS scams using deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence (AI) become more prevalent, the government has been urged to direct funds towards better scam detection and awareness education.
“With the increasing use of AI to create deceptive content like deepfake videos and voices, I’m worried more people could be easily deceived into handing over their hard-earned money to scammers,” said tech content creator Adil Hidayat Rosli, known as Pendakwah Teknologi.
He said there were cases in the United States where scammers had used AI-generated audio to impersonate family members, creating convincing emergency scenarios to demand money from their relatives.“I provide training on AI to mostly civil servants. They are aware of how AI tools like ChatGPT can be used to generate text and help with productivity.“However, when I explained that people could also steal their voice and likeness from social media content to create distressing AI-generated deepfakes of themselves in various situations, they were shocked.
“Most want to know how they can protect themselves and loved ones against more sophisticated AI-generated scams,” he said.
Under Budget 2025 unveiled yesterday, the National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) will receive RM10mil and 100 personnel to combat fraud and strengthen national cybersecurity, while RM20mil will be allocated to boost the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC).
Nacsa chief executive Dr Megat Zuhairy Megat Tajuddin said the additional personnel to be hired will include experts in cybersecurity, legal affairs, policy and international relations, and law enforcement.
“The additional staff will be stationed at our 24/7 National Cyber Coordination & Command Centre, manage enforcement, develop policies and strategies and support international collaboration efforts.”
To raise public awareness, Megat Zuhairy said a cybersecurity committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, had approved the establishment of a cyber awareness coordination committee.
This committee will coordinate awareness programmes across agencies, associations, academic institutions and the private sector.Nacsa will also set up a technology and cryptography management centre in collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia.
An engineering student who wanted to be known only as Fariz said that while an enhanced NSRC is reassuring, he believed that it is not sufficient to stop the rise in scams.
“Less tech-savvy people like my parents and older relatives are the ones who are most vulnerable to getting scammed.
“There needs to be greater awareness of what scams are like and the common tactics to prevent them from being scammed in the first place,” he said, adding that his mother almost fell victim to a scam recently.
