In 2024, Malaysia faced a staggering 35,368 digital financial scams, resulting in RM1.6 billion in losses—a 33% increase from the previous year. These scams ranged from fraudulent phone calls and scam messages to fake investment schemes promising high returns, evolving into a serious menace.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been at the forefront of combating this crisis, including AI-generated deepfakes impersonating prominent figures.
Muhammad Amirul Hafiz Rosly, Head, Planning & Operations Division, MCMC discusses strengthening collective efforts to combat digital financial scams and protect the financial well-being of all Malaysians.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been at the forefront of combating this crisis, including AI-generated deepfakes impersonating prominent figures.
Muhammad Amirul Hafiz Rosly, Head, Planning & Operations Division, MCMC discusses strengthening collective efforts to combat digital financial scams and protect the financial well-being of all Malaysians.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Nyaga Spotlight with me Tamina Kausty. Nyaga Spotlight goes through
00:13the week in economic analysis and future affairs. Well this week on analysis we are taking a deep
00:19dive into the world of digital financial scams. Now just a couple of numbers to set the agenda
00:24for what exactly we want to be discussing today. Now in 2024 Malaysia faced a staggering more than
00:3135,000 digital financial scams. This resulted in 1.6 billion ringgit in losses, a 33% increase from
00:39the previous year 2023. Now these scams range from fraudulent phone calls, scam messages to fake
00:45investment schemes which promise high returns evolving into a serious menace. Now the Malaysian
00:51Communications and Multimedia Commission, MCMC, has also been at the forefront of battling such
00:57content. In fact in 2024 MCMC removed more than 63,000 pieces of fraudulent content from social
01:04media alone. So there's clearly plenty to discuss and delve into some of the reasons why such digital
01:12financial scams still persist around Malaysia. I have the absolute pleasure of hosting today live
01:18in the studios with me, Muhammad Amirul Hafiz Rosli, who is the head with the planning and operations
01:23division of MCMC. A very good morning. How are you doing Amirul? I'm good, thank you. Thank you so much
01:29for making time out of your busy schedule. This is such an urgent topic and just the numbers themselves
01:35demonstrate how busy MCMC has been with this. So Amirul, perhaps we can start off by talking about
01:42of all the awareness efforts that MCMC, your team and many other departments have been coordinating on.
01:49This has of course become very urgent. It's almost a daily need, right? This is not something which happens
01:55maybe once in a while anymore. Yeah. So yeah, for MCMC, I think we are working closely with the PDRM
02:05in combating scams. So we are also getting in touch with the NFCC, the National Anti-Financial
02:14Crime Centre in combating scams as well. So we are doing cross-sectoral coordination with all the agencies
02:23that we are dealing with now. So in terms of combating scams, it is a multi-sectoral coordination that we need to
02:31to do, then I think we are moving fast and enough with the current coordination.
02:40Exactly. Now I think the numbers of fraudulent content related to finance and scams, which MCMC
02:46removed from just social media, which is about 63,000 for 2024, this is also a tenfold increase from
02:54the previous year, 2023. So I don't feel that it is really that Malaysians are using more or less
03:02social media. Do you feel that it actually indicates there are more scams actually happening
03:09in the digital sphere? That's why the numbers have increased so much.
03:14Yeah, I think it's not that Malaysians don't know. Their truth is, most do. So scams don't rely
03:21or don't rely on ignorance. They are relying on emotions. I think in 2024, Malaysians lost over 1.6
03:28billion ringgit across more than 35,000 scam cases. So many victims are working adults, retirees and
03:38even professionals. When people are under pressure, they are financially and emotionally, they become
03:45easier to influence and that's when scammers strike. They offer shortcuts, they offer quick
03:51profits and take safety nets. So this is not just about awareness. It's about hope, stress and
03:58sometimes even desperation. And the solution isn't just more posters. It's building emotional discipline
04:08alongside digital knowledge. And what I'm really hearing over here is that there's actually a lot of
04:13psychological bias, mentioning the fact that professionals quite often fall victim to scams and even retirees, meaning which
04:21in general, they would also be from a literate background. But at the same time, perhaps they have a
04:27cognitive bias. Maybe they are overconfident that they could not fall for scams, right? What do you feel that
04:34perhaps when it comes to desperation? Because another factor is that sometimes victims are also desperate for
04:45making up quick wealth. So when it comes to quick wealth, what kind of trends has MCMC noted in the type of
04:52reports which you're actually been receiving from victims' scams?
04:56Yeah. The biggest danger now is how real these scams feel. I think you have mentioned about a tenfold
05:04increase in scam related content through AI. I think AI generated videos and clone websites. And then now
05:10the new or recent red flags include deep fake videos. That's right. We've actually seen a couple which
05:18actually were deep fake imitations of high profile financial figures, right? So there are also clone sites.
05:26that look like real companies and ministries. And then there are also investment communities
05:31within WhatsApp or Telegram that builds trust within the group and then they will strike after they gain
05:38the trust. What's worrying now is how normal these scams now look because people will know that this is a
05:46scam if it is very clear-cut. But now it feels real. And then if the offer is private agent or actually
05:55inclusive, we have to be extra cautious. That's how they reel you in.
05:59Exactly. And I think on the legislative side, I'd just also like to quickly highlight that amendments
06:06were made quite recently in October 2024 actually to Section 116D of the Criminal Procedure Code.
06:12So that actually means the police, for example, now have the authority to freeze and cease accounts
06:18linked to financial fraud. But once again, it still means that a lot of the responsibility for
06:26judging whether or not a financial investment is a scam or not, especially online, it really boils
06:33down to the consumer again, right? Yeah. Yeah. So let's from there, Amiral, move into looking at new modes
06:40of digital finance. Cryptocurrency, blockchains as well are also, of course, innovations and they are
06:47really changing the financial landscape. But at the same time, they are frequently exploited in scams.
06:53MCMC's thoughts on this now that we've had a little bit of time and experience to understand this very
06:59interesting landscape. Crypto is a powerful tool, but like any other tools, it can be abused. In 2024,
07:08Malaysian banks recorded or even blocked over 399 million in fraud attempts. And then, and many
07:15involved crypto wallets and platforms. And because scammers love crypto because it's fast, often anonymous,
07:23and borderless. That's why MCMC, we are working closely with Bank Negara, there's Coaches Commission,
07:29and NFCC to trace transactions, monitor suspicious behavior, and strengthen the world blockchain
07:35forensics. We will come with innovation, but we must come with checks and accountability and public
07:41education. Otherwise, technology can become a trap, not a solution. Exactly. And I think when it comes to
07:48a really budding financial landscape like Malaysia's, where we've also had several new digital banks recently
07:54getting their licenses, it's about striking that kind of balance. In MCMC's dealing with the industry
08:00stakeholders, how have you found them? Are they receptive and acknowledging the challenges, especially
08:07when it comes to crypto and blockchain and financial scams? The platforms, the social media platforms,
08:14they have been very cooperative in combating scams because scams are setting clear-cut offenses. So,
08:20we have reported more than, I think more, thousands of requests coming or sent to the platform providers. So,
08:30they have been cooperating quite well. I think for takedowns, we are okay. But then again, scammers,
08:39they would have their own way of doing things. So, they will use proxies, they will use VPNs just to
08:47secure their tracks. So, in terms of handling information based on the suspects, it is quite
08:53challenging for us. But we are moving quite fast with the assistance of the PDRM, the Bank Negara and
08:59then the Scottish Commission and as well as the NMCC for us to track down scammers and be able to take
09:06actions against them. Exactly. So, I think of course, with crypto, blockchain, there comes a lot of
09:12decentralization but also then there comes a belief in, in a sense, the trust in tech magic and quick
09:19returns when perhaps even cryptocurrency and blockchain are also concepts which quite widely,
09:26many digital users do not completely understand. Do you think that more public awareness and education
09:33would be further able to enhance protection against crypto and blockchain scams?
09:39Yeah. Because scams don't attack what you know, they attack what you feel.
09:44Sure. Very well said. Not what you know but what you feel.
09:49Yeah. And a recent 2024 report showed that 74% of Malaysians encountered scams monthly.
09:56Monthly. Monthly on a monthly basis. And most victims didn't even report the case due
10:01to fear or embarrassment. People fall when they are emotionally off guard and lonely,
10:07they are rushed, they are stressed and then they are excited. So, that's why the traditional awareness
10:13would, well, it's not enough anymore. We need simulation-based training, especially in schools,
10:20workplaces or even for civil servants. At MCMC, we are upgrading our campaign internet selamat
10:26to focus on emotional readiness, not just digital literacy. And because scams don't wait for
10:33awareness, they strike at weakness. They strike at weaknesses indeed, absolutely. And you had
10:39mentioned briefly about investment scams. Let's dig a little bit deeper, Amirul. Now,
10:43these investment scams are also no longer like shady backdoor schemes. They now come with very sleek
10:49websites, WhatsApp groups and even verified social media accounts since now actually verification across
10:57socials can also be paid for. It does not necessarily depend upon verified public persona, right? So, how
11:05should the public move forward in telling the difference anymore when it may seem on the surface
11:11and even when you click on it something completely legitimate? Scams today are sophisticated. They look real,
11:18they sound friendly and they move fast. In 2034 alone, Malaysians received 2.98 million scams calls
11:26and over 5 million foreign SMS messages. And many scams use fake endorsements, high return packages,
11:33closed WhatsApp or Telegram groups and verified looking ads in social media. So, how do you tell the
11:39difference? Start with three checks. One is too good to be true. Second is pressuring you to act now.
11:48Right. And third would be no verifiable business registration. So, those three checks have to be done
11:55first. If any of those apply, I think you just have to walk away. And at MCMC, we are also urging Malaysians,
12:03we have to check first. Don't immediately trust people. You have to check always.
12:10And I'll pick up on that, Amirol, because social proof can be a double-edged sword, especially considering
12:17that it has been noted as a pattern. These days, social media influencers can also become either
12:24consciously or unconsciously roped in by such devious scams to become the front-facing public persona.
12:33MCMC's perspective on this growing issue. We have our content code where we are upgrading it to be
12:41able to also cater social media influencers because they are responsible. If they are promoting scams,
12:48for example, they are also responsible for the illegal things, illegal acts, right? Especially
12:53considering some of them may even have millions of followers or a significant majority. Yeah. So,
12:58they have to have accountability over their social media platforms and their social media accounts,
13:04right? So, when they are promoting certain services or certain products, they have to be sure that
13:10it is in line with the current existing legislation or even existing provisions of the act. So, they have to
13:18be responsible. I think this is the time for me to also advise the social media influencers to be able to
13:25to just be cautioned on what they are promoting it. So, for example, when they are engaged to promote
13:34online gambling sites, for example, they have to be responsible. They have to know that
13:39it is illegal for you to promote them. In the first place at all. Yeah, that's why. So,
13:44they have to be accountable if they are investigated based on the complaints that we have received,
13:50for example. So, we will just maybe we will coordinate with the police to take action against
13:56them as well. Exactly. And of course, this again ties back to something you'd mentioned a bit earlier,
14:01which is it sounds too good to be true, but using social media influencers as a sort of a buffer against
14:07that, it adds sort of a psychological safety, especially because they may be trusted figures in
14:14other arenas. Thank you very much, Amirul, for the great conversation so far. Lots of insights,
14:18but we do take a short break. Do stay with us. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with Niaga Spotlight.
14:42Welcome back to Niaga Spotlight. Still with me, Tamina Kausji. And on today's episode,
14:46we're taking a very special focus looking in depth at digital financial scams. So, Amirul,
14:52as we were mentioning earlier, I'd like to dig a lot deeper into looking at the lesser known red flags
15:00that Malaysians should be aware of. Now, you had earlier mentioned a very interesting three-point SOP
15:06from MCMC's side that I think in practice, you've been able to find, should every Malaysian
15:13practice this digital SOP, probably the chances of being affected by scams is going to be highly reduced.
15:20Yeah. I think it's best for them to apply these three checks. So, too good to be true first, right?
15:29Too good to be true, yeah. Because investment scams, for example, when you receive an SMS, for example,
15:35for you to download certain application, just download the application, and then you invest
15:42certain amount of money in the application. For example, when you invest 100 ringgit, so tomorrow,
15:49it will be 1,000 ringgit. Right. So, it's too good to be true. I think if a person
15:55is good enough to see that it's too good to be true, then you should be able to be extra cautious of that.
16:06Exactly. And now, these are actually the type of digital financial scams, which have quite often
16:12been covered, not only in news media, but also anecdotally. So, quite often what happens, Amirul, is that
16:20with digital financial scams, which promise high returns, the targeted victim may actually see
16:28a certain amount of profit, quote unquote, come into their account. So, at the same time, let's focus
16:35on what could be some other red flags. Lack of clear contact channels is one. So, is that something
16:44which has also come up in the reports that MCMC receives? So, you may be receiving some
16:50monies in the bank account that you have given, but at the same time, is there some kind of a pattern
16:56observed for when that suddenly stops and people are then victimised and they lose everything?
17:02Yes. So, I think for investment scams, when you have invested more than, I think, more than 1,000,
17:09more than 10,000 ringgit, and when you want to withdraw the money, then you will have to pay again. So,
17:17in order for you to withdraw your 10,000 ringgit, you have to pay 5,000 ringgit, for example.
17:22Sort of like a penalty fee, quote unquote, to withdraw your own money.
17:26Yes. So, that's why I think for most victims, that's when they know that they have been scammed.
17:33Alright. So, that's a huge red flag then.
17:36And also, coming back to the point you made about excessive urgency, masking, deception. Now,
17:42this is something that we have actually seen covered quite thoroughly in news media. How,
17:46in particular, the elderly, especially retirees, so naturally they come from an educated and likely
17:53a professional background, they actually become victim to digital financial scams that are via phone
18:02call in particular. And they have become sophisticated to a really extreme end at this time in 2025.
18:12Are there any, perhaps, recent cases that really stood out to you and your team at MCMC?
18:18Yeah. I just got a call from my friend today that he is checking with me if MCMC has been calling
18:28people. There's one case, there's one incident where someone has called him and said to him that
18:35he's from MCMC. Right. Impersonation of a government agency, an official. Yep. Yep. So,
18:43the person impersonated MCMC officer to say that my friend is doing illegal activities using his phone
18:52number. So, he is checking if my friend is doing that. So, he said no. But then he said that you have to
19:00to make a police report in Terengganu, for example, because he's now in Kedah. So, they said that you
19:06have to, you have to be in Terengganu in, in two hours. Okay. For you to, to be able to. Red flag one. Yeah.
19:13Because it's, it's high agency for you to, to do that because it's far. So, if it's far, then he will say that,
19:20oh, even if it's far, you have to pay me and then I will just close the case, for example. So, that's, that's when they
19:29are playing with our emotions. They give urgency to us and then they say that, okay, I can help you with
19:36this. You have to pay me and then I will close the case. That's, that's how they play with urgency. So,
19:41now, people are especially elderly, for example. So, they, they do not know because, for example,
19:48they tried retirees, for example, they have quite a lot of money. But then again, they have, they have less
19:54awareness. That's why in our campaigns, we are also asking for the children to, to, to, to give more
20:04awareness to the parents. Adult children. Yep. Yeah, absolutely. And that also brings about the
20:10intersection, which is then love scams, which actually target, in many cases also, elderly women.
20:18But at the same time, we have seen some recent cases where elderly men were also targeted by deep
20:24faked images that perhaps could even be pretending to be a famous person. Yep. So, when such intersections
20:31come into play, at the same time, the responsible government agencies, including MCMC, there is a lot of
20:38constant awareness that goes out via social media posts, informative illustrations. Where do you think
20:48the buck needs to stop? Or how do we need to look at things maybe a little differently? Now that we are
20:54raising a lot of awareness, but at the same time, the volume doesn't seem to be reducing. It seems to be
21:02that more people are aware that they have been scammed and now they are reporting to MCMC.
21:08Yeah, I think we have to, we have to change our mindset or our approach in, in managing this because
21:17it is not about posters anymore. It's about how do you simulate crimes that happening within the society.
21:26And that's when, I think that's why we are doing the training for, for in schools, in workplaces and for
21:33civil servants. That's why we are also upgrading our campaign to include more practical approaches or even give it to,
21:42to give more practical incidents or even real-time, real-life incidents for them to, to know that this
21:50is happening and then they should be aware of it and they should be ready to take this challenge.
21:58Exactly. And quite often another arena is that there is an illusion of control which digital users have
22:07because most Malaysians have great high-speed internet access. We avail of many digital financial tools.
22:15So that actually makes us a little more vulnerable because then we may not actually be prepared. We may feel
22:22overconfident because we use digital financial tools every day, maybe several times a day. So combating that
22:30kind of overconfidence without scaring people and preventing them from using digital financial tools,
22:39what kind of help would MCMC need to make this a more successful project for all of Malaysian society?
22:49I think we would advise all Malaysians to use only trusted platforms. If you are using financial tools,
22:55you have to be, to be caution. You have to be careful of what you are downloading. For example, if you, if someone
23:02just give you a link for you to download a certain application, which is not even in Apple App Store,
23:08or even Google Play Store, even Huawei App Gallery. So it may be a bit fishy for you to download and install
23:16the application. Yes, we empower people to do certain financial transactions digitally. But then again,
23:26it must be done with accountability and responsibility. So you are responsible to your safety and security.
23:34That's why you have to protect yourself from being exploited by scammers by downloading certain
23:40applications or even certain financial tools. You have to use trusted tools.
23:45Mm-hmm. Trusted tools, but also double-check and perhaps even triple-check, right?
23:49Yeah.
23:50There are also some other tools which MCMC has actually been introducing when it comes to
23:58encouraging of digital financial awareness. There is a Semak Mule portal which has been established.
24:05Can you tell me a little bit about that? Oh, yeah. Semak Mule is established by PDRM.
24:11We are also assisting them in promoting the platform for the users to use. In Semak Mule platform, they can check
24:23if a certain IC number or certain bank account has been used by a scammer or a criminal. If you type in
24:33the bank account number, for example, they will check and then they will give information that this account
24:41has three police reports, for example. Right.
24:44Yeah. So when we receive such information, we will be extra cautious. We will be more careful
24:51because the bank account has been used by a criminal or even a scammer for us to transfer the account,
24:58the money to the accounts, for example. But there are also Mule accounts. Mule accounts is where
25:04people's bank accounts have been used by scammers to receive a certain amount of money.
25:09And then when they receive the money, they will transfer to the scammer. So Mule accounts have been
25:15a challenge for us because it is not a scammer that is using the account. The scammer is exploiting.
25:21Yeah. So it's a challenge for us to know the traits of the scammer. But then again, Semak Mule platform
25:32would be a good platform for us to use to check if the bank accounts have been used by criminals or by
25:40scammers. Exactly. So clearly, there's plenty of available resources out there, but it's all up to
25:45having a constant sense of vigilance to keep ourselves safe from digital financial scams.
25:51Amirul, thank you so much for all the updates regarding digital financial scams. And we,
25:55of course, wish you and your team at MCMC the best in overcoming them. Thank you very much.
26:01Thank you. Well, that's all we have time for today on Niagara Spotlight,
26:05featuring a focus on digital financial scams and what are some of the evolving methodologies and how
26:12digital consumers and users on a daily basis can keep themselves safer from financial fraud.
26:18We'll join you again next Friday with more economic analysis and insights. That's all we have time for
26:23today. See you again next Friday.
26:34Thank you very much.