News & Reviews:   online scam

Online scams in Malaysia continue to escalate, with new data showing a sharp rise in both financial losses and the diversity of victims. According to a report by Bernama, Perak alone recorded 4848 online fraud cases in 2025, resulting in total losses of RM124.99 million.

Recently, authorities in Cambodia have carried out a major operation against an online scam syndicate, underscoring the growing scale and sophistication of cross-border cybercrime in the region. According to a report by Bernama today, a total of 49 individuals were arrested during the raid, with several foreign nationals among those detained.

Cybersecurity researchers from Kaspersky have uncovered a wave of Ramadan-themed online scams that attempt to hijack users’ Telegram accounts by impersonating government aid programmes. The scam campaign targets internet users by exploiting the festive season and the expectation of financial assistance during Ramadan. Victims are tricked into sharing personal information through fake websites that resemble official aid portals.

A few hours ago, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) published its Public Inquiry Report on proposed mandatory standards for the registration of prepaid mobile end users. The report outlines feedback received from both industry players and the public, alongside the Commission’s final policy position on strengthening prepaid SIM registration in Malaysia.

Generative AI is becoming faster, more realistic and easier to use for creating images and videos. While some people can still easily identify these images and videos, many people can't. Without further ado, here's how to detect AI-generated images with Circle-to-Search and Google Gemini.

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.

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has revealed that online fraud cases in Malaysia have caused losses exceeding RM19 million from 1 January to 24 March this year. Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) acting director Datuk Rohaimi Md Isa added that online fraud cases have also risen by 36.9% compared with the same period last year.

The Malaysian founder and CEO of Singapore-based Replyr.ai, Dylan Tan, recently took to the Entrepreneurs and Startups in Malaysia Facebook group to share a new chatbot he created that is aimed at fighting scammers. An AI chatbot that will “infinitely waste scammers’ time on WhatsApp”, it’s hilariously named “Scammers On Hold AI” or “SOHAI”.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil recently revealed that Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp and Telegram have been identified as the most preferred platforms for scammers to commit fraud in Malaysia. He added that losses from scams and fraud on these 4 platforms had easily reached hundreds of millions of ringgit.

Previously, we shared how the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) removed 63,652 pieces of fraudulent online content on social media in 2024. Well, it looks like the new year will bring more of the same, as MCMC has received over 4,000 requests to remove online content so far in 2025.