Assalamualaikum wbt.

We representatives from SMAP Kajang will be covering the title of this

discourse: “Being Victims of Online Scam is Not a Matter of “If” but “When”; Prevention is better
than cure.”

First and foremost, I will be defining the topic for today. This topic can be broken down into two
parts.

1st part. Being victims of online scam is not a matter of “if” but “when”. I define this as all users of
the internet are prone to get scammed. But the success of these scams is another question.

I will also define the phrase “online scams”.

Online scams refer to the act of exploiting deceptive elements to gain advantage from others that
happens through the internet. Online scam can be divided into two main types which is money
scams and personal information scams.

Next, the 2nd part. Prevention is better than cure. I define this as being able to or helping people to
recognise a scam when it happens and being able to stop is better that having to undergo or helping
people go through the process of recovering from getting scams.

Alright, now I will explain why online scams nowadays are unavoidable.

First let’s take a look at the platform of these scams. Most scams happen online which means the
involvement of technology. Day by day, technologies are getting more advanced so some people
may not be able to keep up to date with all the developments that are happening. This will affect in
people being more vulnerable because they will believe what other people say since they don’t
know much about technology. This will encourage scammers to scam more.

Next, let’s look at the level of activity of scammers. Sourced from Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission, around 14,000 online scams were reported in 2009 and in 2022, that
number increased to just under 240,000 reports. This is evidence that scammers are getting more
active. And increase in scamming activities means more people are falling prey for this fraud.
Indeed, prevention is better than cure but how do prevent these online scams from happening?

Since the younger generations are more updated with the technological advancement, it is our
responsibility to guide the elder generation so they will be more educated about scams. We can
recommend reliable sources of information and resources on online security, such as reputable
websites and videos to them so if they ever encounter these scam attempts, they wouldn’t fall prey
to these online scams.

On the other hand, government or responsible organisations play a crucial part in preventing these
scams by putting an effort into public awareness campaigns and educational programs. Thus, the
society will be more aware on how these online scams work and how to identify and avoid them
rather than just getting scammed and putting a lot of effort into recovering from it.
Why preventing online scams is so much better than dealing with the aftermaths of being scammed?

Firstly, recovering from scams can take time and lots of effort. People have shared how challenging
and time-consuming recovering from online scams can be. This can involve processes ranging from
changing your passwords to reporting to authorities. By not getting scammed, you can save yourself
from this burdensome process.

Next, scams can involve the theft of personal information, such as bank account details or login
credentials. The aftermath of being scammed will require you to take extensive measures to secure
your personal information and protect yourself from identity theft. Preventing scams helps maintain
the security of your sensitive data.