Despite high awareness about scams, a survey found that many are still unaware that they could report such matters to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) 997 hotline.
According to the National Scam Awareness Survey 2024 conducted by CelcomDigi Berhad (CelcomDigi), 64 percent of the 10,893 respondents interviewed were unaware of the hotline services.
“The finding underscores a low level of resilience against scams, particularly in preventive and mitigation actions.
“As such, the NSRC should strengthen its role in disseminating information about its services more broadly, enabling more Malaysians nationwide to benefit from them,” said CelcomDigi CEO Idham Nawawi in a statement.
According to a Kini News Lab report, up to August 2023, Malaysians lost at least RM1.3 billion in around 30,000 cases of online fraud.
In response, the banking and telecommunications industries, as well as law enforcement agencies have rolled out various initiatives to combat scams.
This includes publishing the suspected bank account numbers scammers use to siphon off money, setting up the NSRC and rolling out nationwide awareness programmes.
Increased awareness
Despite the findings, Idham said that based on the survey, 87 percent of the respondents have increased awareness of scam-related matters.
In addition, 66 percent of the respondents have personal experience in dealing with scam attempts.
“Of that number, 76 percent involved voice calls from scammers impersonating bank officers, telecommunications staff or government officials.
“Therefore, our survey suggests that the private sector should develop more innovative solutions to protect customers and integrate scam risk management into their business strategies.
“Additionally, the public-private partnerships must also adopt a multi-pronged approach to create an ecosystem with more strategic and holistic preventive measures,” he added.
On July 9, Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying stressed that banks must also be responsible for losses caused by their negligence or weaknesses.
“I would also like to emphasise here that the burden to conduct a detailed investigation to prove the wrongdoing of unauthorised banking transactions rests on the bank and not the scam victim.
“Scam victims do not need to prove that the transaction is real, it is for the bank to prove,” Lim told the Dewan Rakyat. - Mkini
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