Most of the respondents fell victim to phone impersonation scams where a caller pretended to be a representative from the bank, government department or enforcement authority. — Image by Dragana_Gordic on Freepik
PETALING JAYA: A new survey published by CelcomDigi reveals that 65.5% of respondents have encountered some form of scam attempt, with phone calls being the most common medium used to reach potential victims at 52.6%.
The National Scam Awareness Survey 2024 – which polled 10,839 people nationwide – showed that the majority of respondents (52%) will block phone numbers used in attempted or successful scams, while 32% will inform family and friends.
The rest said they will cancel their credit card (7.4%), close the bank account (8.4%) or not do anything (3.4%). Only 6.5% said they will report the incident to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC).
Altogether, the respondents faced a total 17,912 scam attempts based on their experience.
The survey also found that at least 73% of all respondents had experienced some form of scam or became victims of scammers.
Most of the respondents fell victim to phone impersonation scams where a caller pretended to be a representative from the bank, government department or enforcement authority. The victims were usually asked to provide personal information and bank details to make payments.
Only 26.6% of respondents said they had never been a victim of any scam attempts.
The report also indicated that 87% of respondents are now more aware of scams compared to last year, with 73% indicating that they are aware of how personal data can be used against them.
However, the survey showed that respondents may have a low level of resilience towards scams as only half will block possible scammers’ phone numbers and that most don’t report incidents to family or friends. It added that fewer respondents will contact their bank about scam incidents.
It also indicated that 64% of its respondents are not aware that they could report scams to the NSRC.
CelcomDigi CEO Datuk Idham Nawawi said scams and fraud have become one of the most pressing social epidemics, adding that the report aims to address gaps in mitigating scams.
“CelcomDigi’s inaugural National Scam Awareness Survey 2024 report provides actionable data and insights that can guide more strategic and targeted measures to address scams and fraud,” he said in a statement.
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