9.Scams have been an ongoing problem for Malaysia.

Numerous unfortunate victims have suffered

significant financial losses due to careless scammers' phone calls. Give the best recommendation on
how to approach this matter.

A. PROBLEM STATEMENT

MAJOR PROBLEM:

Scams have been an ongoing problem for Malaysia. Numerous unfortunate victims have suffered
significant financial losses due to careless scammers' phone calls. The major problem focused in this
report is telecommunications scam. Last year, a total of 32,462 cases of online fraud with losses
amounting to RM1.3 billion were recorded from January to November. Bukit Aman Commercial
Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf told a press conference
at Pavilion Bukit Jalil that telecommunications crime (9,526) was one of the highest cases with
financial losses amounting to RM327.9 million.

Another report by Ipsos, titled “Scams in Malaysia” released on 19 Dec 2023, based on a survey of
1,000 people in the country said that phone calls and WhatsApp applications were the top two most
popular platforms used by scammers to target victims. Out of 762 people surveyed, scams via phone
calls make up 56 per cent followed closely by WhatsApp at 54 per cent. The remaining three ways
scammers communicated with their targets were through Facebook at 31 per cent, Telegram at 30 per
cent and SMS text at 29 per cent. The Ipsos report also highlighted that fewer than half of victims
seek help from the authorities, with a silent minority taking no action to report the scams. It is clear
that social media scams present complex challenges for consumers and those charged with protecting
them.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) stated that the three
telecommunication scams involved phone calls, SMS messages and Transaction Authentication
Codes (TAC). Scams involving phone calls occur when an unknown caller claims to be an officer
from a government body such as the police, customs department, Bank Negara Malaysia, the courts
or from private bodies such as banking institutions, scamming potential victims into believing that
they have issues with the authorities, forcing the victims to disclose their personal and financial
information. Meanwhile, SMS fraud is when unsuspecting victims receive a message via the short
messaging system (SMS) claiming a banking transaction involving the victims that need their
confirmation by contacting the phone number or clicking the link attached with the message, it
added. Besides, scammers involve in the TAC scam will contact victims using various medium
before asking them to provide the TAC number, which they claim is wrongly delivered to the
victims’ phone number.

B. RECOMMENDED SOLUTION
IDEA: Swift and effective action against scams is essential to minimising consumer detriment. To approach
this matter, we should explore the potential of digital tools to detect fraud, facilitate consistent and effective
reporting of telecommunication scams and raise consumer awareness.

To address the issue of phone scams in Malaysia, it's essential to implement a multi-pronged approach
involving education, awareness campaigns, regulatory measures, and technological solutions. Here's a
comprehensive recommendation:

The ability to identify and block fraudulent content before it reaches consumers could be a huge step
forward in the fight against scams. Digital solutions, such as algorithmically-driven artificial intelligence (AI)
systems and machine learning, are already being used with some success to tackle online fraud in a broader
context (see section 4.3). Although not 100% effective, algorithms can certainly help to reduce the risk of
social media scams spreading on platforms. Some of the experts we interviewed stressed that AI-enabled
tools alone are not capable of identifying all scams and should be used in conjunction with human
moderators to check, verify and block harmful scam content. Developing algorithms to monitor social media
content and identify the perpetrators of fraud is an area that Consumers International is keen to explore
further.

Authentication of ‘legitimate’ businesses and ads

Our research found that impostor and e-commerce scams are the most prevalent types of scam on
social media. Therefore, the ability to identify authentic business accounts and advertisements is important
for consumers and solutions should be explored. Systems for trader or website verification, such as that
being developed by the Ecommerce Foundation (see case study in Section 4.3) could be one answer.
Criminals often use malicious or fraudulent ads to perpetrate social media scams but, at present, anyone can
advertise on social media as long as they follow the terms and conditions set by platforms, and there are very
few mechanisms in place to distinguish between fraudulent and legitimate traders. Experts we interviewed
agreed that businesses wishing to advertise on social media platforms should undergo a greater level of
authentication to establish their legitimacy. Digital identification tools could help to do this, playing a crucial
role in the multi-stakeholder response to fraudulent ads on social media. Considerable efforts have been
made by a range of advertisers, major brands and industry groups, such as TAG to develop such tools (see
case study in Section 4.3). Free ad-blocker software, such as Adblock Plus, can help consumers to filter and
block domains and ads that may spread malware by selecting preferences from pre-defined criteria.
Exploring ways to link ad-blocker filter lists to businesses and advertisers that have been ‘authenticated’
using digital identification systems, could give consumers the option to block social media ad content from
unauthenticated sources in future.

C. DESCRIPTION OF CONCEPT

DRAW OR SKETCH IDEAS

EXPLAIN IN DETAILS EACH FUNCTION AND FEATURE

D. ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT

HOW TO USE IT?

The Scam Free Carnival is a collaboration between Whoscall Malaysia and Bukit Aman to combat
commercial crimes in Malaysia. Whoscall is a mobile application developed by Gogolook that offers
caller identification services. Ramli said the number of calls answered showed a 50 per cent drop
from 66,810 to 34,996 since their collaboration started in January.

E. ADVANTAGES

STATE AND EXPLAIN THE BENEFIT OF YOUR CONCEPT OR IDEA

F. CONCLUSION

OPINION REGARDING THE CHOICE

HOW THE CONCEPT CAN IMPROVE OR MAKE IT BETTER