KUALA LUMPUR – Various approaches and warnings are implemented, both by the authorities and banking institutions, but the crime of online financial fraud in this country still shows an increasing trend.
Victims come from all walks of life including professionals and successful businessmen. All of them cannot escape being deceived, whether they are said to be involved in illegal activities or tempted by investments that supposedly bring lucrative returns.
According to the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department, financial fraud criminal cases increased by 37 percent to 32,366 cases in the period from January to November this year compared to the same period last year which recorded 23,608 cases.
The police believe that the actual number of victims and the amount of losses is greater because many people are found not to come forward to report their cases to the authorities for various reasons, including feeling ashamed because it involves their social status and career.
This is supported by a survey by market research firm Ipsos Malaysia which on December 19 revealed that less than 50 percent of fraud victims in this country seek help from the authorities, with a small portion choosing to remain silent without taking any action.
The fact is, the crime not only has an impact on the victim but also leaves an impact on the country, which according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, the crime, in a planned manner, can cause the country to suffer financial losses.
Taking into account the current situation, experts are of the view that the relevant act needs to be amended, especially in terms of punishment, because they say, so far there has been no serious effort in that direction.
At the same time, they also urged efforts to increase public awareness to be intensified.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
According to Ts Syahrul Nizam Junaini, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, most cyber users lack the knowledge to identify authentic and fake websites, thus putting them at risk of fraud.
“A previous study found that 78.5 percent of Malaysians are active users of social media. Increased access to social media means more financial transactions are done online.
“This situation opens up more opportunities for criminals to trap users of websites and online banking applications in addition to e-wallets and e-commerce platforms, especially without security measures by users,” he said.
Explained Syahrul Nizam, the threat of cyber crime will not be able to be repelled if the cyber security infrastructure is not strong enough, which opens up space for fraudsters to exploit loopholes in the structure.
“We admit that this crime is starting to focus on the WhatsApp, Telegram and short message service applications because the applications involved are used almost all over the world and millions of people in Malaysia actively use them.
“Fraudsters also use the same application, so it is difficult for us to detect because fraudsters also register phone numbers despite using fake WhatsApp or Telegram accounts,” he said.
According to him, every day the community receives 99 percent of authentic information through WhatsApp, but when one percent of fraudulent information appears, many tend to believe it and then share the false information with other friends.
Ipsos Malaysia in its survey, also found that three-quarters of the Malaysian population is a target of fraud and the increase in the last quarter highlights that weakness when 76 percent of the 1,000 respondents involved in the survey stated that they had been entangled.
According to Ipsos Malaysia, as many as 51 percent of respondents reported that they faced fraud in the last three months, 26 percent faced fraud in the past month and 14 percent faced fraud in the last week.
DON’T BE ASHAMED TO MAKE A COMPLAINT
Therefore, Syahrul Nizam called on members of the community who were victims of financial fraud to come forward and file a complaint with the authorities.
He said facing stigma, shame and difficulty in believing that he has been cheated, is a stumbling block for victims to make a report.
In its details, Ipsos Malaysia stated that only 48 percent of the 657 respondents who were victims of fraud involving financial loss or were about to become victims of fraud but realized it before any financial loss occurred, reported the incident to the authorities. However, 12 percent did not take any action.
“In addition, the victim may not know about the procedure for making a report and the lack of awareness about that aspect makes the victim hesitate or feel that the procedure is complicated so that they end up not making a report at all.
“Don’t stay silent, victims only need to go to relevant agencies in their respective areas including the police station and their bank. If there is no report, how do the authorities want to investigate?,” he asked.
He said this is because every report received will be coordinated with other authorities including the National Scam Response Center (NSRC), Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM).
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT
For a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Dr Azuan Ahmad, he said the variety of applications developed along with the sophistication of digital technology also opened up opportunities for online fraudsters to trap victims.
The existence of various applications that are easy to download actually has the potential to be a gateway for criminals to access personal information including victims’ finances, he said.
“When we are more exposed to the cyber world, indirectly more of our personal data is in the cyber world and if the security of that data is not emphasized, this will expose users to the risk of theft and data leakage.
“This allows the financial scammer to access the victim’s information by making it capital to lure the victim’s trust until they are eventually entangled,” he added.
In addition, Azuan said since recently, the group of fraudsters have also been using mobile applications as their modus operandi, including impersonating authorities such as the police.
“For example, just by knowing the victim’s full name, criminals can detect other personal information such as identity card number, home address, car registration number, and the presence of this additional information makes it easier for victims to be deceived because they believe they are from a trustworthy party.
“There are also scammers developing various fake applications which, when downloaded or clicked by users, allow the fraudsters to access the victim’s banking application.
There are also those who use bank logos as if they were real banks to convince their victims that they are legitimate institutions,” he said.
EASY TO DECEIVE
Commenting further, Azuan said human attitudes that are easily exploited, quick to panic and lack of knowledge about the digital and cyber world, are among the factors that contribute to the increase in cases of online financial fraud in this country.
Criminals are also clever in manipulating the victim’s psychology so that the victim fully believes whatever the fraudster says, he said.
“Victims who panic easily and believe they will reveal their financial details including banking information to scammers who end up ensnaring them,” he said, adding that due to the lack of awareness of this cyber threat, society will continue to be exposed to the crime.
Accordingly, he suggested that stakeholders increase awareness campaigns in addition to constantly spreading the latest modus operandi of online fraudsters.
He also recommends that smartphone users download applications that can screen callers such as Whoscall and Truecaller, to protect themselves from the snares of fraud syndicates.
SCAM RESPONSE CENTER
He also saw the NSRC that was established last year as the best platform in curbing and dealing with cyber fraud cases in a more comprehensive and integrated manner.
He said this is because the center connects crime resources and expertise including the National Financial Crime Prevention Center (NFCC), police, SKMM, banking institutions and national telecommunications companies.
“In addition to spreading awareness about this crime to the community, the NSRC, through the agencies involved, is actively tracking accounts that are used as a medium for money transactions by fraudulent criminals.
“As a local response center related to scam crimes, the NSRC is also acknowledged to act quickly against online financial fraud, including detecting stolen funds more quickly, thus being able to take enforcement action against the criminals involved,” he said.
Since it was established in October 2022 to 30 November 2023, the NSRC recorded cases with a total loss of RM173 million and of that amount, the money that was successfully blocked from falling into the hands of criminals was as much as RM33 million. – Named