KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — Inter-agency cooperation has led to success in curbing online scams via phone calls and short message services (SMS).

This is through smart partnerships between the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and telecommunications companies, among others.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director, Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said efforts to combat the crime, which causes victims to lose millions of ringgit, will be further intensified.

Speaking to Bernama, he said apart from cooperation between agencies, the existing laws also need to be looked at as this crime is constantly evolving and contains new elements.

"Perhaps, the existing laws are inadequate because the methods of criminal behaviour have changed. Also, the explosive development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology requires a revision of the laws,” he said, adding that currently, the offence still falls under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

On September 22, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said almost two billion suspicious calls and 581 million suspicious short messaging services (SMSes) were successfully blocked from reaching Malaysian consumers with the assistance of telco service providers to tackle the issue of online scams.

From 2020 to April 2023, the ministry also received a total of 8,499 public complaints related to fraudulent activities and within the same period successfully blocked 3,370 phishing sites.

G. Dachainee, a 24-year-old student, said the restrictions were a relief but the problem was still worrying as some people were not aware of the development of technology.

"The proposal is good enough to curb online fraud, but the way the perpetrators are identified needs to be improved as the victims involved are mostly the elderly and students,” she said.

Businesswoman Amirah Idris, 35, said the effort shows that the government views the problem of online fraud seriously, but people should always be vigilant as cybercrime can be committed in various ways.

"I think the government’s efforts need to be improved because there are still loopholes in the measures, such as verifying personal information through links on websites, such as banking applications,” she said. — Bernama