Beware Raya scams, they’re even pretending to be ministers: Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR – With the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations less than two weeks away, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil has urged Malaysians to be cautious of scammers on the prowl during the upcoming festive season.

Some grifters have become so brazen and fearless that they dare to impersonate cabinet ministers, Fahmi revealed through an anecdote shared with the press at a breaking of fast event last night.

Fahmi explained that yesterday morning, he received a WhatsApp message from someone claiming to be Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

While the WhatsApp profile picture that contacted him was indeed that of Nancy, he says the message said “Assalamalaikum” with a glaring typo.

This, Fahmi says, raised red flags in his mind, leading him to contact Nancy directly, who swiftly responded, explaining that the number was not hers.

Thus, Fahmi’s message to Malaysians was to verify any and all messages or calls received, to ensure that the person is, in fact, who they are claiming to be.

“If you get calls from unknown parties, impersonating your friends or acquaintances, check first,” Fahmi said.

He also reminded Malaysians of the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), an emergency hotline that allows scam victims to report their unfortunate incidents.

If contacted within the first few hours of a scam incident, the NSRC, which can be contacted at 997, will greatly assist the authorities in tracking down the money and preventing it from being transferred beyond redemption.

Meanwhile, Fahmi also announced that the government was in the early stages of establishing the Malaysian Cybersecurity Commission through the merger of the National Cybersecurity Agency and Cybersecurity Malaysia.

Fahmi says the proposed commission will require the tabling of laws and is, therefore, still a nascent move.

“This is because we need to take the bill to Parliament, but this merger is among the efforts that we need to look into in order to ensure that the people’s data is secure so it cannot be stolen or misused for scamming activities,” he said.

Besides that, the Lembah Pantai MP also said the government is seeking to amend the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 to ensure that companies in possession of data are held accountable for any information leaks. – The Vibes, April 11, 2023