KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — The Communications and Digital Ministry (KKD) have met two local film producers to discuss producing a Malaysian scam awareness movie similar to China’s blockbuster ‘No More Bets’, now showing in cinemas worldwide, including in Malaysia.
Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching said such a film would be locally produced with the assistance of the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) and the Royal Malaysian Police.
“KKD will support such an effort to reflect what is happening in Malaysia. No More Bets is a successful movie not only in China but in Malaysia with (a collection of) more than RM20 million. It is a successful Mandarin speaking movie in Malaysia,” she told reporters when met after delivering her keynote address at the close of TIP The Narrative here today.
Teo said it is good for filmmakers to be involved in scam awareness campaigns, besides the media and non-governmental organisations, as films can reach a larger audience.
No More Bets, released in August, is a crime thriller film about a Chinese citizen who falls victim to a job scam, and is trafficked overseas and trapped in a foreign country as they are forced to be a scammer.
Teo said human trafficking was not a new crime but many people still became victims as the digital world expands and the reliance on technology grows, along with cyber criminals who keep on gaming the technology.
Teo said as of October this year, the National Scam Response Centre received 58,980 calls and out of the total, 22 670 were genuine calls with a total loss of RM203 million.
She said it is more challenging to detect scams on Telegram and WhatsApp as the authorities relied on reports from the public, and details of the group administrator was required.
Malaysians must realise that scammers use similar modus operandi even though they operate on different platforms, she said, citing the example of scammers offering cleaning services and asking potential victims to download a fake app during the Chinese New Year period as many people were looking for cleaning services, while the advertisements would change to cheap durians during durian season and mooncake orders during the mid-autumn festival.
She said Malaysians needed to be educated about not downloading any apps from unknown sources to stop scammers from taking control of their mobile phones through the use of malicious software.
On the role of media in tackling human trafficking, Teo said the media’s cooperation was vital in educating youths, especially school leavers and graduates to not be easily deceived by the offers available on the Internet.
“Anyone can promise anything on the Internet. So on whatever platform, do check and verify all information beforehand,” she said.
