Enhancing consumer protection and empowerment to combat scams

Malaysian consumers are experiencing significant financial losses due to scams, with police reporting a staggering 66,204 online fraud cases in 2025, a sharp increase from 35,368 cases in 2024. The government and relevant agencies have implemented various initiatives to combat scams, including stringent banking security measures, enhanced authentication systems, fraud detection systems, and a national fraud portal.

However, only 30 percent of victims report scam cases, casting doubt on the accuracy of these statistics. Despite these efforts, e-commerce fraud cases surged by over 82 percent, rising from 7,662 in 2024 to 13,979 cases in 2025. The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) has called for a national audit and assessment of the current measures to protect consumers from scams.

They have proposed the creation of a National Scam Prevention Council, which would lead and monitor the effectiveness of scam prevention measures, establish a National Scam Intelligence System to identify emerging scams, and develop a Scam Prevention Framework to set consistent and enforceable obligations for businesses in sectors prone to scams.

The Council would also focus on strengthening multi-stakeholder engagement in the scam ecosystem, bank and payment protections, and telecommunication protection. Additionally, a National Behavioural Scam Literacy Programme would be established to educate consumers about the psychology of emotional manipulation, cybersecurity protections, and recovery programs.

To gauge the effectiveness of these preventive and redress measures, Key Performance Indicators would need to be established, such as reductions in consumer losses, recovery rates, response times, and improvement in consumer scam-resistance behavior.