PUTRAJAYA: Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil said he will hold a meeting with platform provider Meta next week on the issue of scammers taking over WhatsApp accounts.
Describing it as a worrying trend, Fahmi said he had received complaints from several people about their WhatsApp accounts being “stolen” by irresponsible parties.
Following these complaints, CyberSecurity Malaysia issued a warning about the danger of criminals taking over WhatsApp accounts, he told reporters after the closing ceremony of the National Anti-Scam Roadshow 2023 in Putrajaya, officiated by deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof today.
“A meeting will be held with Meta, which handles WhatsApp, to understand whether the security aspects currently in place are insufficient and exploitable by criminals.”
He said similar incidents of account takeover had occurred on the Telegram application.
Fahmi said that starting next year, CyberSecurity Malaysia will intensify the Anti-Scam Roadshow programme to raise public awareness about cybersecurity issues and preventive measures to prevent more people falling victim to online scams.
“When the government is able to curb one form of scam, these scammers are slick and switch to different scams.
“Therefore, there needs to be an increasing understanding and awareness from time to time about new forms of scams,” he said.
Earlier, in his speech at the event, Fahmi said the Cyber999 Cyber Incident Response Centre, under the management of CyberSecurity Malaysia, had recorded online fraud as the highest among cybersecurity incidents.
“Out of 5,480 incidents recorded from January to November, 3,447 (63%) were related to online fraud,” he said.
Like other countries, he said, Malaysia was not exempt from cyber threats and attacks.
“Despite various measures being taken, we still cannot guarantee 100% security or complete freedom from cyber threats and attacks,” he said.
Therefore, the Anti-Scam Tour programme held throughout the year is an initiative to provide information and education, fostering public awareness of financial crimes and scams.
The programme, led by CyberSecurity Malaysia, as the expert and technical agency for cybersecurity, includes seminars, forums and dialogues involving cybersecurity experts.
The organisation of the Anti-Scam Roadshow 2023 in Putrajaya marks the final edition of the tour series for this year after being held in several states, including Selangor, Perlis, Sarawak, Sabah and Kelantan as well as Kuala Lumpur. - FMT
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