KUALA LUMPUR: The National Scam Response Centre's 997 hotline recorded 16,752 reports on scam calls since it was established in October last year.
Minister at the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the reported cases involved almost RM40 million in losses.
"Following this, the police have opened 751 investigation papers under section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud, while another 24 papers are investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering, Prevention of Terrorism Financing and Proceeds from Illegal Activities Act 2001.
"A total of RM24.3 million has been frozen for money laundering," she said in a written reply to Ledang member of parliament Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, who asked about the government's efforts to curb the rising cases of scam calls and online fraud.
The 997 hotline was established to report online financial scams.
NSRC is a joint effort between the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre, the police, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, financial institutions and the telecommunications industry.
It focuses on online financial scams, including phishing attacks, Macau schemes, malware attacks, package delivery or parcel scams and love scams.