Malaysians Lose RM54 Billion To Scams In A Year, Equivalent To 3% Of Our Country's GDP
The report also revealed 70% of scam victims do not report their cases to the authorities.
Malaysians lost a total of USD12.8 billion (RM54 billion) to scams over the past year, which is equivalent to 3% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), said trust tech company Gogolook
According to Bernama, the tech company cited statistics from the 2024 State of Scam Report to provide insight into Malaysia's ongoing battle against scams.
Gogolook said the report found that 74% of respondents encountered scams at least once a month, with 43% noting an increase in scam attempts over the past year.
"From those surveyed, 32% of the respondents experienced loss of money from scams.
"The average loss per victim was reported at USD2,726 (about RM11,000), with only 2% managing to fully recover their funds," it revealed.
The company added that the financial loss from scams is further compounded by emotional distress, with 57% of victims reporting a strong emotional impact due to their experiences.
Gogolook said the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered scams is particularly troubling, with 25% of Malaysians not knowing whether AI was involved in the scams they encountered
"This gap in awareness leaves Malaysians vulnerable to more sophisticated scams that exploit advanced technology to deceive victims, such as deepfake videos and voice imitation, making them harder to detect," it said.
The report also found that 70% of scam victims did not report their cases to the authorities.
"This highlights the growing skepticism regarding the effectiveness of reporting processes," said Gogolook.
Gogolook CEO Manwoo Joo said the report highlights the need for proactive fraud prevention in today's digital environment
He added that Malaysians need to be provided with tools to identify and stop scams before they cause harm.
"With advanced anti-fraud applications like Whoscall serving as the first line of defence against scammers, we can significantly reduce the risk of falling victims to scams," he said.
The 2024 State of Scam Report, which surveyed about 25,000 respondents in Asia, including 1,202 Malaysians, was conducted by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance in collaboration with anti-fraud platforms, Whoscall and ScamAdviser.
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