PUTRAJAYA: Even as the government promotes e-commerce, it is aware of the need to curb online scams as complaints on online transactions have been increasing, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Deputy Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid.
He said the ministry received 11,511 complaints on online transactions in 2020, compared to 5,416 complaints in 2019.
“These complaints have been steadily rising,” he said when launching the #TakNakScam campaign virtually today.
As of June this year, online transactions were one of the most common subjects of complaints received by the ministry, accounting for 45.2% of total complaints, he added.
The #TakNakScam campaign, which runs until September, is a collaboration between the ministry and Facebook Malaysia to increase public awareness on online frauds, scams and other cyber crimes on e-commerce platforms.
Rosol said the Malaysian e-commerce market grew 32.7% in 2020, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic which forced the implementation of the Movement Control Order in March last year.
He said the surge in e-commerce has unfortunately created more opportunities for fraud and abuse, and if drastic measures are not taken to tackle this issue, consumer confidence could be severely affected by online scams.
“A more holistic approach is needed to curb this issue, which involves many cross-sector collaborations between government agencies and the private sector,” he said. – Bernama
