KUALA LUMPUR: With the rollout of the RM100 Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) today and the festive season taking place, Malaysians are reminded to stay vigilant as this period is when scammers are out “fishing” for victims, says Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
He added that families would be spending money during the Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive period to make purchases or to fill ang pow.
“Be vigilant because at this time scammers will be rampant, they consider this to be the ‘fishing’ season. If you receive an SMS containing a hyperlink, do not click on it.”
He was speaking to reporters after launching the Internet Safety Day celebration organised by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa here yesterday.
Also present were MCMC chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah and deputy secretary-general (telecommunication infrastructure) Mano Verabathran as well as Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud.
Fahmi said since last year, MCMC has stipulated that official SMS would not contain links. As such if anyone received such an SMS, it means that the scammer was near the victim’s location and was using a “fake base station” to send fraudulent messages.
“I would like to warn you again, please be careful and do not become a victim of scammers. If you are a victim, the NSRC (National Scam Response Centre) is ready to help,” he said.
“With the opening of the new NSRC office and the addition of staff, the NSRC can now receive calls 24 hours a day. If you are a victim of a scam, immediately call 997. Reporting to the NSRC within 30 minutes will enable the authorities to try to stop the outflow of money and return your money.”
On Sara, Fahmi said the MyKasih system has been improved by increasing its bandwidth to ease the use of the RM100 aid and avoid system problems such as the one which occurred last year.
“I have spoken to the Treasury secretary-general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican, and we have learnt what needs to be done to avoid system issues from last year on the first day of the Sara rollout.
“He informed me that MyKasih, which manages the database, has increased the amount of bandwidth (broadband access) to ensure that there are no problems with the implementation of Sara for everyone starting tomorrow (today).”
In the Budget 2026 announcement, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that a second one-off RM100 Sara aid under the MyKasih system would be given to all Malaysian adults starting February 2026.
The first roll out on Aug 31 of the one-off Sara initiative, last year, saw the backend system experiencing significant congestion and technical glitches due to an overwhelming number of transactions.
The first Sara was valid from Aug 31 to Dec 31.
