PUTATAN, Dec 28 — Panic and the desire to get high returns have become among the reasons for the increasing number of people falling prey to online scams, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun.

He said more than 1,000 people in Sabah had fallen victim to online scams in the first 11 months of this year, involving losses of tens of millions of ringgit.

"The victims come from various occupations. Some are high-ranking while others are not. One of the causes is the panic felt by the public when receiving calls. The other is the greed to acquire something more.

"If scammers offer higher profits after the victims have already lost a little, they try to recoup that loss, leading to more money being lost,” he told reporters after a community policing programme and a road safety carnival here today.

Earlier, Jauteh attended a town hall session on the topic titled "A Prosperous Life Without Drugs, A Peaceful Mind Without Scammers,” aimed at, among other things, exposing the community to the dangers of drugs and the increasingly prevalent scam crimes.

Also present were Sabah Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Kasim Mansor.

Jauteh said it was hoped that the town hall programme would educate the people and make them better prepared to deal with telephone calls from strangers so that they would not fall prey to online fraud.

"The community must be prepared to deal with the impact of increasingly sophisticated technology, which will be manipulated by unscrupulous quarters to the detriment of society,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shahelmey also reminded Sabahans to be wary of cyber criminals, who have become more creative in using sophisticated technology to cheat their victims.

The Sabah government would always work closely with the relevant departments to increase awareness of online scams and check such crimes, he added. — Bernama