KUCHING: The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) has set up a special committee to tackle the Macau Scam problem and create awareness among the public.
MCPF senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye (pix) said the Cyber Crime Committee is being headed by Prof Dr Mohamad Fauzan of the International Islamic University and its members include those who have the knowledge and skills in information and communication technology.
“We realise that every day Malaysians have become victims of the Macau Scam, including government officers and housewives.
“Students and highly-educated people are also not spared although most of their victims are pensioners who keep their money in the bank,“ he said in a statement here today.
Lee said the MCPF is concerned about the ability of the Macau Scam syndicates to evolve using the latest tactics as well as the latest devices to make their deception more convincing.
“I myself have lodged a police report when my name was used by the syndicate to raise money from the top official of an organisation that I’m the chairman. The syndicate had contacted the victim using a fake email that looked like mine,“ he said.
Lee said he was informed that some of the syndicates now have professional trainers or coaches who keep on improving their tactics so that it would be very difficult to detect or uncover their scams.
“This proves how professional they are as they are always a few steps ahead of the enforcement agencies,“ he said.
Lee said the MCPF Cyber Crime Committee would get the information and seek the cooperation of the police as well as other relevant agencies including Cybersecurity Malaysia to find ways to address the problem more effectively.
Based on the statistics released by the police Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), there were 4,500 scam cases using telephone calls and the short message service (SMS) with a total loss of RM113.11 million in 2017.
Bukit Aman CCID director Datuk Seri Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said that since 2015, the department recorded about RM2 billion of losses suffered by the victims of commercial crimes including Macau Scam and loan package or investment scheme which did not exist.
As for the six months of this year, the department has received 5,069 reports on cyber crimes involving RM250 million lost to the scammers.
He also said that 1,973 individuals were arrested for their involvement in the cyber scams within the same period this year. — Bernama
