Malaysian Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil speaks at the launching ceremony (Photo source: newswav.com)

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil along with representatives of CyberSecurity Malaysia, CelcomDigi, and Anti-scam Action Coalition (GBAS) on February 18 launched the National Anti-scam Campaign 2023 to counter scam syndicates’ evolving methods.

According to Fadzil, about 48 types of scams have been reported in Malaysia, including online, phone calls, or physical interactions, and they will keep changing and evolving.

Malaysia is mulling the creation of an ASEAN-wide framework to regulate data transfer and international cooperation with governments and police of countries to combat scam groups, Fahmi said.

At the ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting held recently in the Philippines, all the ministers agreed that one of the top issues the regional countries are facing is scam and fraud, Fahmi said.

Syndicates often look for loopholes in the law to operate in the country, so a regional framework that is applicable to all jurisdictions can help prevent this, he stressed, adding that to prevent data theft in Malaysia, there’s a need to strengthen the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) and cyber security.

Last year, the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (JSJK) of Royal Police Malaysia recorded 19,034 reports related to cyber and multimedia crime that involved a financial loss of 593 million MYR (nearly 134 million USD). JSJK has received a total of 1,563 similar reports so far this year with a total loss of 48 million MYR.