Kuala Lampur, March 2 -- Online scams have moved from being an occasional consumer risk into a structural drain on Malaysia's households, businesses, and confidence in the digital economy. Police have recently said that around 90 per cent of commercial crime is now online, and that non-existent investment schemes are a major contributor to losses.

The scale is no longer anecdotal. In a parliamentary written reply reported in January 2026, the Home Ministry indicated that Malaysia suffered RM2.77 billion in losses from financial scams in 2025, and total losses linked to online and financial fraud across 2023-2025 were RM5.62 billion. This is not only a crime story, but also a competitiveness story, because it erodes trust in online transa...