News & Reviews:   crime

At the start of the new year, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) issued a strong warning against the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate harmful content online. The regulator says it has received numerous public complaints involving AI-powered image manipulation, particularly cases targeting women and minors.

According to MCMC, these incidents involve digitally altered images that result in indecent, grossly offensive, or otherwise harmful material being circulated on social platforms, including X.

You would think by now that most Malaysians have become better at spotting online scams than before, but it turns out that this is not the case yet. The recent data from the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) shows that between January and November 2025, there were 67735 online crime cases recorded nationwide, resulting in cumulative losses exceeding RM 2.7 billion.

The Malaysian government has announced it is preparing new cybercrime legislation aimed at strengthening legal protections and improving enforcement against evolving online threats. Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah revealed the initiative today, highlighting crucial gaps in current laws and the challenges they pose to prosecuting cross-border cybercrimes.

Besut Police Chief Supt Azamuddin Ahmad@Abu recently revealed that a 67-year-old former teacher in Jertih, Besut, Terengganu, lost over  RM80,000 after he was duped by a TikTok Shop scam. The victim fell for the scam, which involved a fake offer to open an online business on TikTok Shop.

News of social media platforms required to apply for a license from the Malaysian government is certainly a controversial one. That said, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil recently told the media that the government cannot give more time for social media licensing to deal with online crimes.

To fight against digital piracy, Finas (National Film Development Corporation Malaysia) is collaborating with iQiyi on a campaign titled #JanganTontonHaram. The objective of this campaign is to encourage the public to tackle issues such as content theft. As a reward, iQiyi will be giving out prizes including the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max to the selected winners.

With a population of about 1.37 billion people, it is no surprise that India is looking to build the largest facial recognition system in the world. The government hopes that with this technology, they would be able to find missing people, stop child trafficking, crimes and more. 

Penang is now the first state in Malaysia to utilize the Facial Recognition System to detect criminals by utilizing any one of their 897 CCTV Cameras available on the island as well as on other locations. This will be beneficial to law enforcement units as they will receive notifications whenever a suspect is detected in the video feed. It will then relay relevant information such as Time, Date, as well as the location of the criminal to aid the police in their arrests.