Malaysians lacking resilience against scams: 73 per cent surveyed fell victim

PETALING JAYA - The National Scam Awareness Survey 2024 report by CelcomDigi Berhad (CelcomDigi) has found that a large number of Malaysians been scammed, defrauded or deceived, with 73 per cent, or 7,881 out of 10,893 survey respondents having experienced some form of scam or fallen victim to them.

In presenting the survey’s findings at CelcomDigi's inaugural ESG Day 2024 yesterday, Head of Sustainability Philip Ling said that the survey demonstrates that respondents may have a low level of resilience to scams, especially in adopting preventive and mitigative actions.

"We found that there is a lot of awareness about scams among respondents - they have heard of scams, they know that they cannot click on unknown links, (that) there is danger in sharing personal data.

"But then there seems to be a gap somewhere (as) there is still a high number of respondents who have been victims to scams. So, somehow the awareness is not translating to resilience.

This is the gap we must address,” he said, adding that the survey, launched on Feb 6 in conjunction with Safer Internet Day, found that 66 per cent of respondents had encountered a scam before on different channels, the most common being voice phone calls.

According to Philip, the scammer’s tactic of pretending to be an authority figure such as an income tax officer, police or an official from a financial institution was key to the scam.

"Unfortunately, Malaysians are very quick to respond to authority to a certain extent. We are quite compliant as a community but that also puts us at risk of being scammed if not careful,” he said.

The survey also reported that only half of the respondents block possible scammers’ phone numbers, and less than a third report such incidents to family or friends. Even fewer respondents take up the matter with a bank or financial institution.

Philip noted that 73 per cent of survey respondents were young working adults aged between 18 and 40, earning less than RM3,000.

"A lot of them said their monthly income was not sufficient for their monthly expenses. We were wondering whether this may make them feel desperate to look for a second job or another way to earn extra income, and that can make them a lot more susceptible to scams,” he said.

He pointed out that the survey indicated a possible trend of scams targeting those with higher education and income levels as results showed that 75 per cent of those earning over RM4,000 had faced an attempted scam compared to 60 per cent earning less than RM1,000 and that 77 per cent of degree holders (bachelor’s, Masters, doctorate) had been targeted by scams compared to 54 per cent of those with primary or secondary education.

Meanwhile, CelcomDigi chief executive officer Datuk Idham Nawawi said the report provided comprehensive data and actionable insights for the authorities, media and the public to be more vigilant and to tailor educational initiatives to address specific gaps in scam awareness and protection measures.

He said key areas surveyed include experience with scams, knowledge on scam tactics, and preventive measures including personal data protection, and awareness on the 997 hotline of the National Scam Response Centre.

"In this war against scams, our mission is clear, that is to create awareness, drive compliance to high security and safety standards internally while supporting enforcement agencies, and leverage technology advancements to build safeguards against cybercrime," he added.

Those interested in the survey’s full report can access the CelcomDigi SAFE Internet webpage at https://corporate.celcomdigi.com/sustainability/safe-internet. - BERNAMA