Fahmi: MCMC blocked nearly two billion scam calls since 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blocked 1.8 billion scam calls from 2017 to last year, says Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said he was informed about the matter during his meeting with the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre together with MCMC and several other parties.

He said that since 2018, a total of 300 million scam messages via SMS had been blocked.

“Please be careful during this festive season (because) there will definitely be those who will take advantage of the situation,” he told reporters after attending the Chinese New Year open house organised by MCA here on Sunday.

Fahmi also advised people who had fallen prey to scams to call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to make a report so that immediate action can be taken and to prevent them from losing money.

There are various types of scams and they are not easy to deal with because when a modus operandi is established, new types of scams will emerge, he said.

“During this festive season, scams such as ‘cleaner scams’ (will emerge) on Facebook, for example, so we have to be careful. If you get any offer whether work or service, please double-check. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Make a police report and call 997 so that we can help,” he said.

On scams on the Telegram messaging app, Fahmi said he would try to contact its officials to discuss prevention measures. — Bernama