Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysians lost an estimated 12.8 billion USD to scams over the past year, representing 3% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to trust tech company Gogolook.
The State of Scam Report 2024, conducted by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) in coordination with Whoscall and ScamAdviser, found that 74% of respondents encountered scams at least once a month and 32% of them have experienced loss of money.
Only 2% of victims managed to fully recover their funds compared to 8% in the previous year, said the report which is based on a survey of 1,202 Malaysians, proving insights into the nation’s ongoing battle with fraud schemes.
However, the actual number of victims could be even higher as 70% of them did not report their cases to the authorities, down 5% compared to the previous year.
The report showed a rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered scams is particularly troubling, as 25% of Malaysians expressed uncertainty about whether AI was involved in the scams they encountered.
Gogolook chief operating officer Manwoo Joo said the report emphasised the importance of proactive fraud prevention in today’s digital landscape./.
