Despite more warnings and victim stories, Malaysians continue to succumb to spam calls that result in huge amounts of money stolen.
According to phone safety technology company Truecaller, Malaysians have lost hundreds of millions of ringgit to phone scammers within the past two years alone.
Data provided by Malaysian authorities estimate that over RM254 million (or US$61 million) was lost across 5,725 cases of fraud calls in 2019, while the number rose to over RM287 million (US$68.7 million) across 6,003 cases.
As of March 2021, no less than 1,392 cases of fraudulent calls were reported to the police, with over RM38 million (US$9 million) lost within the first three months of the year alone.
According to Truecaller, victims typically include those closer to retirement ages and who are less savvy when it comes to technology. Citing news reports, Truecaller highlighted cases in which some Malaysians lost incredible sums of money to the Macau scam syndicate.
“Normally, the culprit behind these scams (the unknown caller) claims to be an officer from a government body such as the police, customs department, Bank Negara Malaysia, the courts or from private bodies such as banking institutions,” Truecaller said.
“Their purpose is to scam potential victims into believing that they have issues with the authorities, forcing them to disclose their personal and financial information.”
It was also revealed that scammers have managed to adapt and…
