KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — There have been 3,699 reports of personal data breach in Malaysia since 2017, according to the director of the Personal Data Protection Department (PDPD) Mazmalek Mohamad.

He told Utusan Malaysia that the leak of personal details happens commonly when people register for things online.

"Among the ways your data can be breached is when you buy things online, make any sort of commercial transaction, registering your bank card, property, marketing, health and many more,” he was quoted saying.

"All these transactions require some form of personal data keyed in like your IC number and telephone number which makes it exposed to external threats. We found telecommunications agents who took a copy of your IC, gave it to these syndicates who then register another number illegally.

"Some personal data was even used to register themselves when they booked into a hotel. Apart from that we’ve also received complaints of people getting calls regarding property through WhatsApp,” he told the Malay newspaper.

The most common breaches involved online transactions such as buying air tickets and purchases on an e-commerce platform.

Mazmalek advised online users to be more vigilant and ensure they discard anything that contains their personal information safely, saying that others can steal documents that are just thrown into dustbins.

He recommends users draw a line across a copy of their IC to prevent others from using or duplicating it.