Malaysia Fraud & Scam Insights Dashboard
Six-Month Landscape Review · Social, Official & Public Sources
Executive Summary
Malaysia’s fraud & scam landscape over the past six months — the headline picture for leadership.
The Landscape at a Glance
Malaysia is experiencing an unprecedented scam crisis. Reported online-fraud losses climbed from RM1.57 bil in 2024 to roughly RM2.7 bil in 2025, and the government’s own figures point even higher (RM2.97 bil). Non-existent investment schemes drove the largest losses (~RM1.37 bil), while telecommunications / Macau impersonation scams generated the highest case volume (28,698).
Social conversation mirrors the crisis: 13,835 mentions in the past three months, overwhelmingly negative (52%) and rising sharply — dominated by money-laundering, mule-account enforcement, court seizures and impersonation cases. Government response has intensified (24/7 police-led NSRC, Penal Code Sections 424A–424D, BNM device binding & kill switch), yet fund recovery stays low — a persistent public frustration.
Key Emerging Trends
Losses by Scam Type (2025)
Investment fraud alone accounts for over half of all money lost.
Losses Are Escalating Year-on-Year
Reported losses have risen every year — up 76% in 2025 alone.
Where the Conversation Happens
Social share of voice across news, X/Twitter, Facebook and forums.
Top Fraud & Scam Topics
Ranked by financial impact, case volume, conversation share and emerging risk. Click a topic to expand its full profile.
Filter by risk:
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Scam topic
Government & Regulatory Intervention Tracker
Coordinated response across BNM, PDRM, NSRC, SC, MCMC and partner agencies.
Response Timeline
NSRC — National Scam Response Centre
Established Oct 2022; 24/7 and police-led (CCID) since 1 July 2025. Hotline 997 can trigger immediate account-freeze requests. Staffed by 25 CCID officers + 16 BNM call agents, handling ~500 calls/day (about half genuine).
RM32.5m
Frozen 2022–2025 (RM10.9m returned)
49%
Return rate Jan–May 2026 (up from 29%)
BNM Preventive Controls
Agencies & Their Mandates
Cross-Topic Comparison
How the leading scam types compare across impact, volume, concern, detection difficulty and response.
Multi-Dimension Profile (Radar)
How to read this: each axis is a relative analyst score (0–10), not raw data — the further out, the more severe. Use it to compare scam shapes, not exact values.
Cases vs Losses vs Conversation (Bubble)
How to read this: left–right = number of cases, up–down = money lost (RM mil), bubble size = share of conversation. Top-left = high loss per victim; bottom-right = many victims, smaller individual loss.
Comparison Table — Risk vs Response
Where emerging risk outpaces response strength (e.g. AI/deepfake, romance) is where the biggest gaps sit.
Strategic Insights & Recommendations
Overall social insights, gap analysis and prioritised actions by stakeholder.
Overall Social Insights
Gap Analysis
Recommendations by Stakeholder
Early-Warning Indicators & Future Outlook
For the Public
A guide for citizens and stakeholders — how the threats compare and how to protect yourself.
Think you’ve been scammed? Call the NSRC hotline 997 immediately.
Compare the Threats
How the biggest scams stack up on money lost, number of victims and public concern.
Which Scams Steal the Most Money (2025)
The takeaway: fake investment scams take the most money by far — more than all the others combined.
Which Scams Hit the Most People (2025)
The takeaway: phone impersonation (“Macau scam”) reaches the most victims, even if each loss is smaller.
Risk Heatmap — At a Glance
How to read this: each scam is rated Critical → High → Medium → Low on four things. Redder = worse.
Protect Yourself
Simple habits that stop most scams — share these with family, especially older relatives.
7 Rules to Stay Safe
Red Flags — Stop If You See These
If It Already Happened
Useful Contacts & Tools
About This Dashboard
This dashboard consolidates Malaysia’s fraud and scam landscape into a single reference view, combining official enforcement data, social media listening and public-facing guidance. It is built for two audiences at once: leadership and policy stakeholders who need the strategic picture (Sections 01–06), and general readers who need practical protection (Sections 07–08).
Scope & coverage
›Analysis period: Apr – Jul 2026
›Case & loss figures: full-year 2025 official reporting, with 2024 and prior years used for trend lines
›Market: Malaysia only
Sources
✓Official and regulatory disclosures — PDRM/CCID, BNM, NSRC, SC, MCMC, KPDN and Ministry of Digital
✓Malaysian news media reporting and court/enforcement announcements
✓Social media monitoring across news portals, X, Facebook and public forums
✓Berkshire Media analyst assessment for risk tiering and response ratings
Method
›Mentions are keyword-captured, then noise-filtered to remove irrelevant, duplicate and non-Malaysian content
›Sentiment is classified as negative / neutral / positive at mention level and aggregated by topic
›Topics are ranked on a blend of financial impact, case volume, conversation share and emerging risk
›Radar scores (0–10) and Risk / Response labels are relative analyst judgements, not measured values
Reading the numbers — known limitations
!Under-reporting. Scam losses are widely under-reported, particularly for romance and job scams where stigma is high. Figures are a floor, not a ceiling.
!Conversation share is estimated and reflects volume of discussion, not prevalence of victimisation. High-visibility cases can distort share.
!Definitions vary between agencies, so category totals from different sources are not always directly additive.
!Some cells show “—” where no reliable disaggregated case count is publicly available for that category.
This dashboard is a product of Berkshire Media’s internal analysis team, covering the data period Jan – July 2026. This dashboard is interpretations for general information purposes only, do not constitute professional, investment or business advice, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for independent verification. Berkshire Media accepts no liability for decisions made on the basis of this dashboard.
Social Media Listening Analysis
13,835 mentions · Malaysia-focused.