KUALA LUMPUR: It was a passion project gone wrong for Beth (not her real name) when she was scammed out of RM675 in the purchase of a heavy-duty sewing machine advertised on Instagram in 2016.
The 68-year-old sewing enthusiast thought that the sewing machine was a "steal", since a brand new one would cost her more than RM10,000.
One click on the advertisement, and she was taken to a website to make the purchase.
"I thought I had struck the jackpot. So my sister-in-law used her card and paid for it, and then I waited," Beth told the New Straits Times, adding that she could even track the package as it was being shipped.
"The last message I received from the tracking information was that they had left my sewing machine at my doorstep.
"That was the biggest letdown. There was no sewing machine outside.
"I tried to go back to the website. There was no such website."
Beth is among thousands of victims who have been scammed, exploited, or even bullied via social networking sites.
Between 2022 and July this year, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission received 18,947 complaints on crimes committed via social media. Of these 9,321 involved scams, 9,483 involved cyberbullying, and 143 were related to child sexual exploitation.
Beth, who is also a part-time tutor, said she has learned from her lesson and no longer buys any item from dubious websites.
"I will not get myself scammed again, ever again."
In the first five months of this year alone, the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) received 37,002 calls from scam victims, with losses totalling RM203.33 million reported.
Between its establishment in October 2022 and the end of last year, the NSRC received 58,092 reports.
Apart from scams, cyberbullying, which has recorded the highest number of complaints, has even driven one woman to commit suicide.
Hindu rights activist and influencer A. Rajeswary, or Esha, 30, was found dead in a condominium unit in Setapak on July 5, a day after lodging a report at the Dang Wangi police station here over online threats made against her.
For her part in the tragedy, one of the perpetrators, Shalini Periasamy, was fined RM100, which sparked anger among the public who called for harsher punishments.
Esha was not the only victim of cyberbullying to lose her life.
Two years ago, mother of three Shashikala Nadarajah allegedly took her own life after months of cyberbullying on TikTok over her appearance and pronunciation of handbag brand names.
On Wednesday, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the government would soon announce improvements to laws related to cyberbullying.