Online Fraud Losses Exceed RM958 Mln As At June This Year - Fahmi

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Losses due to online fraud crimes in Malaysia have recorded an alarming RM958 million from January to June this year, said Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil.

He said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is intensifying efforts to take down harmful content on various digital platforms, in line with the increasing threat.

He said that for the period from January 1 to yesterday, a total of 470,593 harmful contents were requested to be taken down from social media platforms and of that total, platform providers agreed to take down 93 per cent or 436,661 contents.

"Of the figure (470,593 contents), 64 per cent were gambling contents, while the other 27 per cent were scams," he said at a press conference after the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) and MCMC here today.

Fahmi said Facebook was the medium most associated with online gambling content, accounting for 78 per cent, followed by YouTube (18 per cent) and TikTok (four per cent).

For fraudulent content, Facebook continued to record the highest percentage at 53 per cent, followed by TikTok (39 per cent) and Threads (five per cent).

In this regard, Fahmi stressed that every social media platform provider must play a more proactive role in detecting, blocking and taking down harmful content without relying solely on reports from authorities or user complaints.

"Platforms must shoulder greater responsibility to ensure a safe online environment," he said.

Fahmi said MCMC was now intensifying operations and intelligence-based investigations in curbing criminal activities in cyberspace, strengthening mandatory standards for end-user registration of prepaid public cellular services as well as strengthening measures related to digital identity verification.

Earlier, Fahmi witnessed the exchange of MoUs between JIM and MCMC which aimed to strengthen cooperation in enforcement, intelligence sharing and joint investigations involving cross-border crime and communication technology.

Also present at the ceremony were Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, MCMC chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din and Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban.

-- BERNAMA