KUCHING, March 21: Sarawak reported 2,816 online fraud cases in 2021, totalling RM72.7 million in losses, said Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah during the first Sarawak Social Development Council (MPS) meeting for this year today.
The Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development (KPWKM) said this was an increase of 10.8 per cent from the previous year’s figure of RM65.6 million with 1,462 cases.
She added that this is based on the Commercial Crime Investigation Department’s (JSJK) statistics.
“With 667 cases and a loss of RM3 million, online shopping scams were the most common commercial crime in Sarawak in 2021.
“Money-lending fraud ranks second with 441 cases and a loss of RM1.6 million, while Macau scams rank third with 173 cases and a loss of RM8.6 million,” she said.
Other commercial crimes include impersonation fraud with 168 cases and a loss of RM2.2 million, Nigerian romance scams with 110 cases and a loss of RM4.6 million, and job offer scams with 90 cases and a loss of RM1.5 million.
She warned the public to be cautious and not fall victim to online fraud.
“If you are concerned about a phone or account number, visit the PDRM Mule Check Portal website at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/ before making any transactions,” she stated.
Fatimah also mentioned that the public can contact the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559 and 03-2610 1599 from 8am to 8pm (daily) or the CCID Infoline at 013-211 1222 from 8am to 12am (daily).
Additionally, the public can go to the Cyber Crime Alert Royal Malaysia Police Facebook page for information on current methods of operation used by scammers. — DayakDaily
