After PM's Telegram account compromised, MCMC says over 2,000 complaints of cyber incidents lodged by Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said today it has received 2,093 complaints regarding cyber incidents as of August this year, amid concerns over compromised text messaging accounts.

MCMC's corporate communications department told Malay Mail the complaints included unauthorised access to social media and personal messaging accounts and loss of access to their accounts due to forgotten passwords.

"All complaints of unauthorised access, which could be an offence under the Computer Crimes Act 1997, will be referred to the police for their further investigations," the MCMC said in a statement.

Malay Mail had asked MCMC about the actions taken by the commission to contain hacking activity on text messaging app Telegram.

Last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri lodged a report with the MCMC and the police after his personal Telegram and Signal accounts were hacked.

It was believed that the accounts were used for fraudulent criminal activities and the Prime Minister's Office had advised those who received messages from the accounts to report them to the authorities.

According to MCMC, complainants who have lost access to their social media and personal messaging accounts have been advised to lodge reports with the respective platform providers.

It said most complainants sought MCMC's assistance to regain access to their accounts, with MCMC providing guidance on the steps to take when lodging reports with the respective platform providers.

As for the issue of compromised or hacked Telegram accounts, MCMC said users are advised to read up on Telegram's security features to use it more securely, including not sharing any security code or personal information with anyone.

"Platform providers of all messaging apps and social media have provided security features to help protect their users from cyber incidents," it said.

It also reminded users to activate the two-factor authentication for their accounts and that users can refer to the MCMC public advisory on how to do it.

"MCMC will continuously advise the public about the latest modus operandi and any new security measures that could be implemented by the users, as well as carry out advocacy programmes to educate the public," it said.