EXCLUSIVE On top of the scams list

 

Ecommerce fraud cases outnumber those of investments and loans

KUALA LUMPUR: When Covid-19 struck in early 2020 and millions of people were stuck at home with nowhere to go, online shopping started picking up and not long after, so did ecommerce scams.

According to the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), over RM305.94mil was lost to ecommerce scams between 2021 and August 2023.

Its director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf (pic) told The Star that over the last three years, his department had observed that ecommerce scams were becoming more prevalent nationwide.

Ecommerce scams refer to fraudulent online shopping offers and tend to feature “sellers” offering bogus items either on online purchasing platforms or via social media platforms.

In most cases, the seller disappears without a trace once they receive payment from their victims.

“In terms of cases being reported, ecommerce has topped the charts since 2021 with 9,499 cases recorded that year, 9,253 cases in 2022 and 7,911 cases between January and August this year,” said Comm Ramli.

“The top three types of scams reported are ecommerce scams, bogus loans and investment scams.

“Based on our statistics, cases of ecommerce scams reported greatly outnumber the other two types.

“In the past three years, 26,663 ecommerce scam cases were reported between January 2021 and August 2023 compared with 10,759 loan scams and 9,640 investment scams reported over the same period.”

ALSO READ: Only use trusted websites, says victim

He added that while losses from ecommerce scams had been on the rise since 2021, the biggest increase was seen this year with RM144.82mil in losses recorded between January and August.

“The year has not even ended yet and already we have recorded a RM56.73mil increase in losses compared with the RM88.09mil recorded in 2022. In 2021, we recorded RM73.02mil in losses,” he said.

He added that between January and August this year, police arrested 3,659 suspects in connection with ecommerce scams.

Comm Ramli said cheating cases were becoming more challenging to curb, as technology had allowed scammers to go online.

“There is no more face-to-face between the victim and the perpetrator when it comes to online scams, which makes it tough for suspects to be identified and brought to justice.

ALSO READ: Move to beef up scam response centre

“There is room for us to improve ourselves. As online scams increase, we need to better equip ourselves with new laws that are more relevant to combat such scams,” he said, adding that he welcomed a multi-agency approach to tackle these new forms of crime.

When asked if the police were beefing up their strategies and equipment to combat scam syndicates, Comm Ramli said they were working with other agencies such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission as well as Bank Negara Malaysia.

“As criminals evolve, we, too, have to evolve in order to stay one step ahead of them. I will not elaborate on our strategies as it may open the door to the scam syndicates to alter their modus operandi, but rest assured that we are doing our part to fight them head to head.

“We are also part of the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) and I must say that in terms of efficiency, it is quite effective,” he said.

He said anyone who feared that they have been scammed can contact the NSRC at 997 and action would be taken immediately.

Comm Ramli said there were some procedural matters being tweaked in order to make their efforts more proactive.

He added that their main aim was to retrieve the money for the victims.

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Malaria makes a scary comeback; Change reactive mentality to proactive mindset

 

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Experts: Screening needed as cases now surging from zero between 2018-2021

PETALING JAYA: The spike in the number of malaria cases in several parts of the country so far this year is causing concern among public health experts, who cite climate change as among the contributory factors.

According to the figures, the number of cases so far this year has already exceeded the 404 reported in the whole of 2022.

There were 215 cases reported in Kelantan this year and 840 cases in Sabah as of June, while Terengganu reported 26 cases over the first five months of the year.

ALSO READ : WHO sounds alarm over rise in malaria case numbers

These are worrying statistics after the country recorded zero human malaria infections from 2018 to 2021.

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© Provided by The Star Online

The rise in malaria cases also comes as the country is having to deal with an increase in dengue cases due to the hotter and drier weather caused by the El Nino phenomenon.

Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted through the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito.

Health experts said zoonotic malaria – carried by monkeys and spread to humans through mosquito bites – remain a concern and they have called for mass blood screening in affected areas.

The zoonotic transmission of malaria usually occurs among individuals residing near forest fringes, plantations and agricultural sites, affecting those involved in activities such as logging, fishing, planting and hunting-gathering.

Public health expert Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said climate change and deforestation could be among the contributing factors. “It could also be due to people moving nearer to places that are a source of malaria,” said the former Health Ministry official.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malay-sia’s Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh said warmer temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change, as well as changes in the behaviour of mosquitoes carrying malaria could have also led to the increase in cases.

“In Kelantan, however, this could be more due to human- animal conflict,” she added.

She said while Malaysia has entered the phase of eliminating the indigenous transmission of malaria, zoonotic malaria transmitted from macaque monkeys remains a public health problem.

“Indigenous transmission” is the mosquito-borne transmission of malaria in a geographic area where malaria occurs regularly.

“The parasite known as Plasmodium Knowlesi is usually carried by macaque monkeys and spreads to people when a mosquito bites an infected macaque and then bites a person.

“This happens during logging, fishing, planting, deforestation or when entering a jungle.

“Monkeys also travel to nearby houses and villages and spread the parasite. It is also known as simian malaria,” she added.

Prof Sharifa Ezat said delays in seeking medical attention and a lack of preventive measures such as putting up mosquito nets might lead to a further increase in cases.

She said the disease could also be transmitted via the migration of people from malaria-prone countries to Malaysia.

She proposed the government conduct mass blood screenings to detect the malaria parasite among workers in the afflicted areas in Kelantan.

“We also need to keep a watchful eye on full-blown malaria cases, especially among children.”

Prof Sharifa Ezat said the resistance of malaria parasites to anti-malaria treatment drugs has also heightened the threat of the disease.

On Sept 25, Kelantan Health Department director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin said the state had recorded 215 malaria cases this year, an increase of 84% – or 98 – cases compared with the same period last year.

Of this, 53 were human malaria infections and 162 involved zoonotic transmissions. However, there have been no malaria-related fatalities reported in the state so far.

Dr Zaini said frequent exposure to forests and plantations were among the factors leading to the increase in malaria infections in Kelantan.

Of Sabah’s malaria cases, 816 involved zoonotic malaria, followed by 14 imported human malaria cases, and 10 human-introduced malaria infections.

On March 14, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the country is facing a new threat in the form of rising zoonotic malaria cases.

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Change reactive mentality to proactive mindset

IN response to  Malaria makes a scary comeback

I would like to remind readers that “prevention is better than a cure”, in this case related to responsible design, construction and maintenance of residential and commercial premises. Abandoned construction sites where pools of water can collect must also be addressed and resolved.

Fully insect-screened windows and doors to the exterior reduce the risk of insects entering the premises. Sanitary vent pipes on the roof should also be sealed with non-corrosive aluminium insect mesh to stop mosquitoes from finding their way downwards (attracted by the sewer odour) and entering the toilet from floor drain outlets.

The best approach, however, is to ensure mosquitoes do not breed. The insects have a lifecycle of eight to 10 days – hence removing or draining stagnant water in your surroundings in good time will be effective.

Neighbourhood water retention ponds built to temporarily hold water to prevent flooding must be regularly maintained by removing rubbish and sediment at the final discharge point into the main stormwater drains to avoid the situation of ponding for more than a week and thus breeding mosquitoes.

Discarding rubbish, debris and kitchen waste into drains blocks water flow and creates mosquitoes habitats – restaurants, shops and food stalls are big contributors to smelly drain clogs and this uncivil behaviour must be stopped with a combination of education campaigns and strict enforcement.

When houses (and shops) are renovated, it is common to reduce or totally seal off the limited access openings to culverts, denying municipal workers the chance to clear the drains of obstructions. This can lead to stagnant water collecting for long periods, supporting endless lifecycles of mosquito reproduction.

Occasional chemical fogging and larviciding have been common reactions to cases of infections to destroy adult mosquitoes and larvae. However, this is a non-proactive reaction.

The reactive cure mentality must be replaced by the prevention – proactive – mindset that simply stops water from stagnating long enough to allow the mosquito to complete its reproduction cycle. So keeping culvert access unblocked as originally designed, disposing of rubbish and food wastes responsibly, maintaining any pool of water, all this will help to prevent mosquitoes from breeding as well as generally improve hygiene. A bonus: We won’t have to breathe in those nasty fogging vapours.

YEO CHONG MENG, Ampang, Selangor

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Putting off charge for DuitNow QR payments, call for waiver for DuitNow QR payments permanent

 

New rules: PayNet said debit and credit card payments were subjected to MDR, while there is currently a MDR waiver for QR payments. — SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star© Provided by The Star Online

PETALING JAYA: Several financial institutions, including Public Bank and CIMB, have announced a waiver of the merchant discount rate (MDR) for vendors accepting payments via the DuitNow QR code platform.

CIMB has decided to postpone the MDR until the end of the year, while Public Bank will maintain the waiver until further notice. 

Public Bank has communicated on its website that it would waive the following fees for QR payment acceptance, effective from Oct 1 until further notice.

It said merchants would enjoy fee waivers for categories such as payment acceptance via Current and Savings Accounts, ewallets, and Maintenance Fee and API Integration Fee under the bank’s Enterprise Plan.

Credit card transactions under the Enterprise Plan will incur a charge of 0.25%.

The DuitNow QR service enables money transfers between banks and non-bank entities by scanning QR codes.

Related video: DuitNow QR charges won’t burden low income groups, says PM (Dailymotion)

 

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ALSO READ: Wee: Make waiver for DuitNow QR payments permanent

It was established by Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) under Bank Negara’s Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework.

Earlier yesterday, Paynet confirmed that vendors would be charged a transaction fee for payments received via the DuitNow QR code platform starting Nov 1.

It said there were charges for two different epayment types – the MDR and the 50sen fee for transactions exceeding RM5,000 for peer-to-peer fund transfers between personal QR codes, not payments to merchants.

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Merchants, it said, would receive the payment made by their customers after deducting the MDR, which is charged based on a percentage of the transaction value.

PayNet said debit and credit card payments were subjected to MDR, while there is currently a MDR waiver for QR payments.

Starting Nov 1, the MDR waiver for DuitNow QR payments would be lifted, it said in a statement, adding that the MDR was neither a new fee nor an additional charge.

“As an incentive to promote usage during the introduction of QR payments in 2019, the MDR was waived. This was extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

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