As of 31 Oct. this year, PDRM has gotten a total of 8,162 cases of e-commerce fraud that amounts to RM57.73 million in losses.
According to Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Investigating Officer, Assistant Superintendent Mohd Sa’adon Sabirin, there were only 3,318 cases involving RM22.39 million in losses reported in 2018.
The number shows that e-commerce fraud has more than doubled since then.
He said that the total loss suffered by the fraud victims from 2018 till until October of this year amounts to RM149 million
The situation worsened in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, where 5,848 cases of e-commerce fraud were reported as more people started making purchases online.
CCID Investigating Officer, ASP Mohd Sa’adon Sabirin.
During a webinar session on e-commerce fraud organised by Bank Negara Malaysia on 10 Nov, Mohd Sa’adon said that the statistics is made up of those who were swindled and reported the crime.
He believes there are more cases that has gone unreported and urged victims to lodge police reports. The information and data related to these scams will be used by the PDRM to take further action.
Information such as phone number and bank accounts received from fraud victims would be updated in the “Check Mule” application, which helps the public to cross check seller information before making a transaction.
Penang Companies Commission of Malaysia Director, Sazuree Shuib advised merchants to register their businesses under SSM BizTrust platform, which was created to protect consumers and help crackdown on e-commerce fraud.
A total of 625,000 businesses have registered under SSM BizTrust platform with only 43,000 still active, according to Sazuree Shuib.
Free registration promotion from SSM BizTrust is ongoing till 31 Dec for businesses that does online trading.
