Sabah vows to combat surge in cybercrimes

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s cybercrimes are worrying as cases have been increasing over the past three years with losses amounting to over RM100mil, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said that Sabah police recorded a total of 4,687 scam cases from 2020 till last month.

This included phone scams, love scams, non-existent loan schemes, bogus investments and online trading, he said.

“The number of cybercrime cases has been steadily increasing over the years: 1,069 cases in 2020, 1,169 cases in 2021, 1,206 cases in the previous year and 1,243 cases from January to September this year,” he said during the National Anti-Scam roadshow here yesterday.

The text of his speech was read out by Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.

In view of the worrisome trend, Hajiji said the state government is committed to combatting cybercrimes in collaboration with federal and security agencies.

“It is crucial that victims of such crimes report their cases promptly to facilitate swift action,” he said.

Hajiji said accurate and timely information was needed to not only address the issue effectively but for analysing criminal trends.

Malaysian authorities must work with international agencies to exchange information and ideas in dealing with such crimes which are evolving, he said.

“Online cheating cases happen everyday. To tackle this, the government with other agencies has been continuously holding awareness programmes,” he said.