A TOTAL of 11,367 cases of cybercrime were reported from January-July, compared with 18,510 cases of commercial crime in the same period, Commercial Crime Investigation Department deputy director (cybercrimes and multimedia) Senior Assistant Commissioner Victor Sanjos said.

He said the trend of cybercrimes from 2016 till July 2022 showed an increase from 39% to 61%.

There are six types of scams, namely Macau scam, e-commerce crimes, non-existent loans, non-existent investments, 419 scams or love scams and phishing.

Macau scam or impersonation/fraud calls have so far chalked up 4,912 cases involving a loss of RM199.8 million; e-commerce crimes recorded 5,397 cases with a loss of RM71.6 million; and e-financial fraud or phishing as many as 543 cases with a loss of RM40.5 million, he said.

Victor said this in a webinar titled “Duit dalam akaun bank anda lesap. Apakah puncanya dan langkah mencegahnya”.

He said money in bank accounts that goes missing happens through phishing and the internet apart from the banks offering online services.

“So what scammers do is create a website that looks similar to the respective banks.

“In line with the development of technology, scammers come up with ‘app scams’. This is one of the phishing tactics used by scammers to get names, passwords and information about the user,” he said.

Victor said after the user uploads this “app scam”, the application will ask to take over the role of the short message service and if the user allows this, then it makes it easier for scammers to carry out activities.

He said among the modus operandi scammers commonly use are advertisements on social media platforms – app scams recorded 39 cases involving losses of RM721,728.69 by certain individuals from January to July 2022. 

Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia manager (inquiries and complaints division) Vijayadurai Singgatore said the central bank always urges the public to be aware of tricks or offers made by scammers, whether they are logical or not.

“We have to use technology wisely, do not trust the application given through WhatsApp, do not click the hyperlink given and make a transaction, it might be a trap,” he said.

Bank Negara and the banking industry also constantly improve security standards so that users are confident in the security of the system offered.

“Now internet banking is further fortified with CAPTCHA with pictures to be matched by users,” said Vijayadurai.

“In the meantime, there are many banks that have increased the level of security by creating device binding, which means that if users want to do internet banking, they must use a registered device.”

AmBank Islamic Bhd chief executive officer Eqhwan Mokhzanee Muhammad said if users are involved in scam activities, they should contact the bank first so that their accounts can be frozen immediately before making a police report.

“When the customer suspects that he has been cheated, and sees that the money is missing, I suggest the customer contacts the bank on the customer service line and at the same time, I urge the customer to change the ATM card PIN number and also the internet banking access password,” he said. – Bernama, August 5, 2022.