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A QUICK search of the Internet for keywords “The Star” and “online scam” generated 191,000,000 results, indicating that people keep falling for various online scams despite being able to easily read about similar cases. CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM – the national cyber security agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry) reported that since 2018, Internet fraud has been making up the highest number of reported incidents. The CSM department MyCert reported 5,123 cases last year. Top of the list was the Macau scam, followed by love scams, loan scams and parcel scams.

A few weeks ago, Malaysians could finally put a face to the masterminds behind one group of Macau scammers who deceive people into giving them money by pretending to call from government agencies or banks (“RM85mil seized, cops nabbed”, The Star, Oct 9, online at bit.ly/star_seized). The news exploded on social media, with netizens marvelling at the perpetrators’ lavish lifestyles, allegedly funded by scammed money. That, dear reader, is not as surprising as the fact that some Malaysians continue to remain gullible despite various campaigns to raise awareness of this matter. So, what gives?