A TOTAL of 79,559 cases involving telephone scams were reported between 2018 and September 15 this year, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said.

In a written reply to Bukit Mertajam lawmaker Steven Sim Chee Keong, Hamzah said the 79,559 cases involved the loss of RM2,513,732,701.72.

“Based on statistics, Malays make up the bulk of the scam victims (42,755), followed by Chinese (21,225), other races (8,540), and Indians (7,039),” he said.

“Those between the ages of 21 and 40 make up the largest number of victims.”

Last year, police set up a one-stop centre under the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) to address the growing number of phone scam cases in Malaysia.

CCID director Zainuddin Yaacob said 6,003 phone scams were reported between 2020 and up till March 24, 2021, involving a total loss of more than RM38 million. – October 5, 2022.