PUTRAJAYA, Dec 7 — There are still many Malaysians who fall victim to job scam syndicates abroad, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Without disclosing the number of victims, he said most of those caught up in the employment fraud syndicates were deceived by advertisements offered on social media and were eventually forced to become “scammers”.

“That’s why we receive various (online) messages in good Bahasa from abroad because they (Malaysians) are forced to become scammers.

“I myself have been involved in rescuing Sarawakians who are actually stranded abroad and the cost to bring them home is not cheap and some have also died from abuse,” he said when speaking at the closing ceremony of the 2023 National Anti-Scam Tour here today.

Therefore, Fadillah, who is also the minister of plantations and commodities, reminded Malaysians to not get caught up in dubious job offers on social media easily and advised them to check the advertisement with any authority to ensure its validity.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah in the Dewan Negara today said a total of 158 victims of oversea job scam syndicates were still stranded in their countries of destination as of November.

In the meantime, Fadillah said the increase in the number of activists, spies and organised cyber terrorists who damage the services and operations of governments and organisations is worrying.

He said the rapid advancement of technology in the digital era opens up opportunities for financial criminals or scammers to ensnare victims through exploitation, mental manipulation and behaviour which ultimately leads to the deterioration of the victim’s quality of life.

“So the government needs to move one step ahead to be prepared with more effective preventive measures to face the increasingly dynamic challenges of cyber crime,” he said.

He said banking institutions, law enforcement and security agencies should continue to cooperate to deal with the issue by implementing new laws and regulations to deal with financial fraud crimes more effectively.

Statistics from the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department also show that online crime has increased by 37 per cent for the period from January to November 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, from 23,608 cases to 32,366 cases with a loss of RM1.13 billion.

The National Anti-Scam Tour that started in February was implemented to continue to inform and raise awareness among Internet users about online crimes. — Bernama