PERAK saw 4,848 online scam cases last year, with total losses exceeding RM124.9mil.
State communications, multimedia and NGO committee chairman Mohd Azlan Helmi said the victims spanned every demographic – from students and civil servants to retirees and private sector employees.
He noted that male and female victims were almost evenly represented, while senior citizens remained the most vulnerable group.
“However, a growing trend of cases involving students has also been observed,” he said during the Perak State Assembly sitting at Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan in Ipoh yesterday.
Mohd Azlan said the most common scams involved telecommunication fraud such as fake calls and phishing attempts, followed by non-existent investment schemes, e-commerce scams, love scams and increasingly sophisticated fraud involving artificial intelligence technology.
He said this when replying to Wong May Ing (PH-Pantai Remis) who asked about the victims involved, the total amount of losses incurred and the types of scams that occurred most frequently.
She also asked about short- and long-term actions to effectively reduce online scams.
Mohd Azlan said the state was working closely with the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on enforcement and prevention efforts.
He said MCMC provided technical support such as social media content takedown requests, website blocking and digital forensic analysis to speed up investigations and enforcement actions against scam syndicates.
In addition to enforcement, he said nationwide awareness efforts were being intensified through the Internet Safety Campaign launched in 2025.
“The programme was conducted in 906 schools across Perak last year, reaching both primary and secondary students.
“For this year, the campaign will be expanded to include villages, mukim and district levels.”
He said strategies, including faster transaction blocking, stronger inter-agency cooperation and expanded public awareness campaigns, were also being carried out.
