PETALING JAYA: Consumers in their 30s and below are most susceptible to online fraud particularly for their affinity to trendy gadgets, according to the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC).
Its Legal and Policy Division senior manager Shabana Naseer Ahmad said such consumers readily fell prey to “best price” and limited edition offers.
“Unfortunately, they fail to scrutinise the background of the sellers prior to buying the products; the result - items never arrive or are fake products,” she told a press conference on Tuesday.
Referring to the NCCC Annual Report 2016, she said there were 7,371 complaints last year pertaining to online transactions, involving losses amounting to five million ringgit.
According to the report, the number of consumer complaints had also risen from 44,540 in 2015 to 48,563 in 2016.
The losses increased from RM233.76 million in 2015 to RM255.62 million in 2016.
“We expect the figure to rise next year because the scammers are becoming more cunning and are resorting to various devious schemes,” she said of online fraud.
NCCC was established in 2004 by the Education and Research Association for Consumers Malaysia and Selangor and Federal Territory Consumers Association.
Its role was also acknowledged by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, said Shabana.