By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 8: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Public Complaints Bureau chief Milton Foo hopes to bring to the federal government’s attention the increasing number of online scams and human trafficking cases involving high-pay jobs abroad.
In a press release issued today, Foo relayed this during a visit to Dato Sri Huang Tiong Sii, who is the federal Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability and the member of Parliament for Sarikei.
During his visit, Foo pointed out that since taking over the SUPP Public Complaints Bureau in 2022, he has received over 100 complaints about online scams, with a total loss of more than RM10 million involved.
With regards to human trafficking, he said there are a total of 45 cases, of which 39 have been rescued and brought back to Malaysia.
However, three are missing or their whereabouts are unknown, two are still stranded abroad under the control of scammer groups, and one is being detained at the foreign country’s immigration detention centre.
He added that these victims are from Sarawak, namely Kuching, Sri Aman, Sibu, Sarikei, Bintangor, Kapit, Engkilili, Bintulu, and Miri, who came across job advertisements on social media or through friends.
Huang, who is also the assemblyman for Repok, expressed concern about the issue and would do his best to bring up the matter to the federal government to review the existing laws and policies to strengthen the fight against cybercrimes.
He also said that in this era of modern technology, where mobile phones have become a necessity for everyone, online scams can strike at anyone at any time, adding that in addition to the government’s efforts to curb online fraud or scams, raising public awareness on the subject matter has a very crucial part to play too.
Huang also hoped that Foo could do his best to help Sarawakians who are stranded overseas, promising assistance in coordinating with his colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if required. — DayakDaily
