AI-Powered Scams On The Rise, Teenagers Main Target In Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 (Bernama) -- Fraud syndicates in Malaysia are exploiting social media and artificial intelligence (AI) to deploy sophisticated scams that blend child sexual exploitation, extortion and illegal content sales, with teenagers as their primary victims.

Malaysian Cyber Consumers Association (MCCA) president Siraj Jalil said scam tactics have dramatically evolved over the past decade, from traditional Macau, romance and parcel scams to complex, multi-layered cybercrimes.

He highlighted a scam involving ‘sugar mummy’ service offers on TikTok to lure teenagers, coercing them to share personal content classified as Child Sexual Exploitation Material (C-SET). Victims are then extorted for thousands of ringgit to avoid public exposure.

“Even after ransom payments, syndicates continue selling the compromising material on platforms like Telegram to paedophile communities,” Siraj told Bernama Radio today.

He also warned social media merchants face new risks of being falsely accused when scammers duplicate their ads, deceive buyers and exploit buyer information to defraud the genuine sellers.

When victims report fraud, the legitimate merchants’ accounts may be frozen under suspicion, he added.

Siraj also noted modern scams increasingly use AI-generated fake content, leaked data from major tech companies like Meta, and social engineering to study victim behaviour.

To address these threats, the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) now operates 24/7 with an expanded cybercrime mandate.

He urged parents to closely monitor their children’s online activity and called on the government to provide AI literacy education for the public.

Cybercrime victims can seek help via MCCA’s website at cyberconsumer.my.

-- BERNAMA