SPECIFIC LAWS NEED TO BE ENACTED TO ADDRESS SCAM CRIMES - KEDAH RAJA MUDA

ALOR SETAR, June 27 (Bernama) -- Specific legislation needs to be introduced and existing laws streamlined, to keep pace with current technological developments in order to effectively address online fraud and scams.

Raja Muda of Kedah Tengku Sarafudin Badlishah Sultan Sallehuddin emphasised the need for harsher punishments and higher fines to eradicate such crimes.

"Technology is developing rapidly and often, the law lags behind because the legislative process is slow. To enact laws, it takes time.

"So, the law must keep up with technological developments to stay relevant. For instance, with the advent of AI (artificial intelligence), the law needs to be up to date," Tengku Sarafudin told reporters after officiating the closing of the state-level National Anti-Scam Tour 2024 here today.

He stressed that appropriate laws need to be enacted to effectively address the issues arising from the use of AI technology in fraud and scam crimes.

Earlier in his speech, Tengku Sarafudin said with the advancement of technology, especially AI, criminals are becoming more sophiscated in their modus operandi and cybercrimes.

Athough the overall purpose of artificial intelligence is beneficial, it can be exploited for criminal purposes such as deepfakes, misinformation and disinformation, he added.

"Cybersecurity needs to be a priority for everyone, including individual internet users. Therefore, I urge the people of Kedah to always be vigilant when making online transactions and sending messages on social media to protect personal safety and bank accounts from being manipulated by cybercriminals or scammers," Tengku Sarafudin said.

The state level Anti-Scam Tour programme, jointly organised by CyberSecurity Malaysia and CelcomDigi Bhd, aims to share information on the growing cyber threat landscape, the latest modus operandi of scammers and prevention strategies.

A total of 600 participants, including civil servants, university students, lecturers, teachers, youth, parents and community representatives, attended the two-day programme which began yesterday.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued today, CyberSecurity Malaysia reported that the Cyber Incident Response Centre-Cyber999 recorded a total of 2,518 cybersecurity incidents from January to May this year, with 1,646 incidents involving online fraud.

In addition, statistics from the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department indicated a total of 13,134 online crime cases during the same period, with losses exceeding RM511 million.

Also present at today's event  were Kedah Education, Religion, Communication and Information Committee chairman Mohd Azam Abd Samat, CyberSecurity Malaysia board chairman General (R) Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin and Kedah state secretary Datuk Seri Norizan Khazali.

--BERNAMA