ONLY RM14.3 million was recovered for online scam victims between October 2022 and September this year, against reported losses of RM1.2 billion, highlighting the challenge of returning stolen funds to victims, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said.
He said the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) had acted on victims’ complaints to block funds from being transferred to other bank accounts suspected of being linked to scams, but the amount recovered remained far below the losses reported.
“Are we satisfied with this? The answer is no, because the losses caused by online scams remain substantial,” he said when winding up the Supply Bill 2027 debate for the Home Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Saifuddin said the NSRC’s 997 hotline received 468,675 calls involving reported losses of RM1.2 billion between Oct 12, 2022 and August this year.
Police had intensified intelligence gathering and enforcement against online scam syndicates, he said, adding that 968 raids were conducted and 7,262 people arrested between 2024 and September this year.
Further profiling found that 2,912 of those arrested had previously worked or lived in Cambodia, a country frequently associated with such activities, he said.
Saifuddin said the findings would strengthen intelligence gathering and monitoring of cross-border criminal syndicates. Police were also expanding international cooperation through Interpol, Aseanapol and bilateral police channels.
On organised crime syndicates using Malaysia as an operational base, he said police had stepped up intelligence work and raids targeting premises identified as scam call centres.
From 2023 to August this year, arrests linked to call centres included 36 alleged masterminds, 74 managers, 165 supervisors, 118 financial personnel handling mule accounts, 18 communications personnel, 132 information technology programmers, 8,500 operators and 157 general workers.
“The operations targeted not only operators but also the wider command, technical, communications and financial structures supporting the syndicates,” he said.
Police conducted 61,363 operations over the same period, recording 18,393 arrests in 2023, 12,278 in 2024, 23,753 in 2025 and 16,740 between January and August this year.
“These figures illustrate the scale of this emerging form of crime and the seriousness of the threat it poses,” Saifuddin added. - October 27, 2026
