PENANG has recorded a drastic increase in cybercrime cases, with losses totalling RM89.9mil last year compared to RM50mil in 2020.
Penang police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the number of cases surged to 2,791 last year against 1,993 in 2020.
“In 2018 and 2019, the number of cybercrime cases was 1,121 and 1,372 respectively with losses totalling RM50mil (2018) and RM45.5mil (2019).
“Thus, this shows there is a sharp increase in cybercrime cases, especially in 2021 and 2020.
“The sharp increase in cases is due to the various phases of lockdown over the last two years to curb the Covid-19 infection.
“This has resulted in more people doing their business from face-to-face to virtual (online platform),” Mohd Shuhaily said during an interview with Buletin Mutiara at the police headquarters in Penang Road recently.
According to Mohd Shuhaily, among the most frequent cases of cybercrime are telecommunication fraud, e-commerce, love scams and non-existent investment opportunities.
“The Penang police force has made a total of 3,849 arrests from 2018 until 2021 to clamp down on cybercrime syndicates in that period,” he added.
Mohd Shuhaily said he expected the number of cybercrime cases to continue to rise this year as more people prefer to do everything online these days due to the Covid-19 situation.
“As of February this year, Penang has already recorded a total of 230 cases of cybercrime with losses totalling RM3.98mil.
“Thus, I would like to advise Penangites to be aware of any suspicious advertisement that promises a high return on investment in a short period of time.
“Please do a background check first before you invest your money.
“If you’re not sure, then do not proceed with the transaction or investment.
“Don’t be greedy for the sake of becoming rich in a short period of time because there is no shortcut to success,” he said.
Mohd Shuhaily added that once the person becomes a victim of cybercrime, the possibility of getting back their money is slim to none.
“That is why we all have to be careful,” he concluded.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Alissala Thian