SAMARAHAN: Entrepreneur and Small, Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Assistant Minister Datuk Mohd. Naroden Majais has advised the public to be careful when handling online transactions.
He gave the advice when officiating at the “Staying Safe Online Campaign 2019” yesterday at Kota Samarahan Civic Centre here.
Naroden, who is also E-Commerce Assistant Minister, said, “The internet has enabled us to compete in the global market. We are able to access, amend and share information from wherever we are.”
However, although the internet had transformed lives and economies, some criminals had used it to commit cyber crimes or online scams, he said.
Pointing out that online scams could happen anytime on a daily basis to anyone, the assistant minister advised members of the public not to reveal their personal information on social media for scammers to use.
According to the deputy head of Commercial Crime investigation Department (CCID) Contingent Sarawak DSP Maria Rasid, 49 cases of African scams (love scams) involving a total loss of RM51.02 million were reported in the state from January to June this year.
Sixty-four Macau scams involving a total loss of RM3.9 million were also reported in the state during the same period.
The Staying Safe Online Campaign 2019, organised by the Ministry of International Trade and eCommerce (MITeC), was supported by Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Royal Malaysia Police Force.
Its objectives were to educate the public on the benefits and dangers of conducting online transactions and steps they should take to prevent themselves from becoming scam victims.
Present at the campaign were Samarahan MP Rubiah Wang, MITeC permanent secretary Kameri Affandi, Samarahan District Officer Ainnie Wahab and Simunjan District Officer Abdul Khalid Manap.
