Free ‘Online Scam Awareness’ public forum at Kenyalang Park tomorrow

KUCHING (June 29): The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) Sarawak and the Federation of Kuching Division Community Associations Sarawak are jointly organising a free public forum called ‘Online Scam Awareness’ slated for tomorrow (June 30).

In a statement, Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, who is MCPF Sarawak chairman, said the forum would be held at the Kenyalang Park Community Centre at 1pm, in collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

Unimas Associate Professor Dr Chew Kang Lung, together with senior PDRM officers and the bankers association will be sharing their knowledge and experience in current data information, the deceitful tactics of scammers and how the public can help to stop the prevalence of scams in the state.

“A vigilant public plays a pivotal role in safeguarding Sarawak against scams through working with the various government bodies and agencies which are tasked to stop the relentless and enormous losses suffered by our citizenry, a threat to our families, relatives and neighbours,” said See.

He said based on a representative survey among 2,500 respondents across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam last year, families and circles of acquaintances represent a most crucial channel or source of information alerting the folks about scams.

From the survey, he revealed that 48 per cent of the respondents in Vietnam were aware of the scams and alerted their families and acquaintances, followed by Singapore (46 per cent), Malaysia (44 per cent), Indonesia (42 per cent) and Thailand (40 per cent).

“The other common sources of scam alerts are newspapers, television and social platforms and resources.

“In that respect, widespread public awareness to protect ourselves against scams and frauds is fundamental and of equal importance is to share the knowledge with our families, friends and neighbours, all our acquaintances as the information shared will prevent them from falling prey to the scammers and fraudsters.

“I am therefore grateful that the Federation of Kuching Division Community Associations Sarawak, a federation of 24 residents’ communities and associations in Kuching have readily agreed to jointly organize this public awareness campaign to encourage their members across Kuching to actively attend and participate in this event,” said See.

“997 is the National Scam Response Centre Hotline for the public to promptly report any scam or attempts.

“A strong neighbourhood awareness on online scams and support to the victims will encourage prompt reporting which strong and effective law enforcement may be undertaken to lower scam instances,” he added.

See said at the Senate meeting in March this year, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah revealed that there were 34,497 cases of online scams involving losses of RM1.218 billion in 2023.

On the other hand, he said, 46,563 scam cases were reported in Singapore involving the losses of SG$651.8 million in the same year.

“Our scam reporting rate is noticeably low.

“The Milieu Insight had warned in its report that countries in the region, naming Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam as the top three countries where scams occasioned were not reported, that many victims may have normalized the impacts of scams or lack of confidence in the effectiveness of local authorities in combating such crimes.

“However, high public awareness together with strong effective law enforcement and low scam incidence rate are correlated.

“We must all contribute to the comprehensive effort of the government to prioritize the fight against scams and create an environment that will be hostile to scammers thus protecting ourselves and our communities from falling victims to them,” See said.

On tomorrow’s forum, he said organisers would be giving out 500 custom-made ‘Agent 997’ T-shirts to participants on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The PDRM and BNM would also be setting up booths on crime prevention and for inquiries.