KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — There were 51,631 online fraud cases with more than RM1.61 billion in losses reported from 2019 to last year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Jonathan Yasin said the highest was online purchases with 18,857 cases, followed by 15,546 non-existent loan cases.

"Various efforts were carried out by the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) to combat syndicates including stepping up law enforcement, operations and charging against those involved.

"We also created the 'CCID Scam Response Center' where members of the public could obtain information and validate calls for doubtful transactions," he said in reply to a question by Su Keong Siong (PH-Kampar) at Dewan Rakyat today.

Su wanted to know in detail the statistics on cheating in online purchases from 2019 to last year as well as the measures taken to curb the problem so as not to affect the vibrance of the  new form of business. 

Jonathan said police are planning and carrying out studies as well as reviewing laws to ensure they are relevant with the current development and issues.

"We would be reviewing the Consumer Protection Act 2007 if it could curb all types of crimes taking place in the country,” he said.

He was replying to a supplementary question by Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (Pas-Tumpat) who wanted to know whether there is a need for law enforcement to be amended or updated so that they are relevant to present challenges. — Bernama