KUCHING, July 15 2026: Malaysians lost a total of RM5.37 billion to online scams during the period from 2024 to May, 2026. Stampin Member of Parliament (MP) Chong Chieng Jen said, adding investment scams constituting the largest portion which recorded loss of RM2.68 billion (49.9%).
He said this was followed by losses resulting from telecommunication fraud, an amount of RM1.54 billion (28.7%). Electronic finance crime caused a total RM660.64 million (12.3%) and e-commerce scams records RM250.81 million loss (4.6%) while loan scams and love scams contributed to the losses of RM138.92 million (2.5%) and RM111.08 million (2.0%).
"This is the result that I obtained from the Minister of Home Affairs this morning in Parliament," Chong said in a statement.
He said this is shocking as an average RM2.2 billion lost to on-line scams annually nationwide, adding that it It also caused tremendous financial impact on the individuals that have fallen to the scams.
In response, Chong said the federal government has formed the cross-department task force of National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) as a one-stop centre to provide an expeditious response to freeze the money flow upon receipt of complaints.
"This NSRC one-stop centre comprises officers from the police force, Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission and banks.
"I was also informed that the police have stepped up tracking down and identification of mule accounts and the investigation on the scam syndicates," Chong, who is also Padungan State Legislative Member (SLM) and Sarawak DAP chairman, said.
He noted that despite the various measures taken by the federal government over the years, online scams are still rampant and causing billions of losses to ordinary Malaysians some of whom are retirees who are scammed off their life-long savings.
"With such figures and wide-spread online scams, we should all be mindful when we carry out online transactions.," he said, advising the people not to trust online investments and advertisements too much and always seek verification from banks or someone more savvy in multimedia technology.
"On the part of the government, I have previously highlighted the fact that in order for online money to be taken out from the system, the syndicates have to withdraw cash either over the bank counters or through banks’ ATM machines.
"Banks should introduce thumb-print readers and Identity Card readers for all withdrawals from ATM machines and red-flag if someone is detected to have made abnormally frequent withdrawals through the ATM machines.
"It is also my proposal that the law should be amended to make banks which allow mule accounts to be operated to be made liable, whether wholly or partly, for the loss caused via the use of the mule accounts," he said.
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