Financial and Cyber Crime Most Prevalent Economic Crime in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 (Bernama) -- Financial and cyber crimes were among the most prevalent economic crimes committed in Malaysia, says Honorary Group Chairperson of International Cybercrime and Forensics Examiner (ICFE) Group of Companies, Tommy Seah.

Economic crimes constitute fraud, corruption and bribery, identity theft, money laundering, cyber crime, accounting and financial fraud.

He said the most widespread of financial crimes in Malaysia were financial statement frauds, procurement frauds and misappropriation of assets.

Explaining further, Seah said although economic crime in Malaysia was not at an alarming stage it was nevertheless increasing.

"Malaysia is a pretty docile country but we are also not well equipped in preventing such crimes," he said, adding that many people, particularly organisations were not aware of the implications of economic crime.

"Skills and knowledge can be transferred and acquired and Malaysia has the ability but the corporate will to put the house in order is more vital," he said in an interview with Bernama today.

When asked why economic crimes occurred, he said :" The desire for a better quality of life is a common denominator of a country.

"When economies grow along with a better quality of life desire also arises.

"And, when they cannot attain a better quality of life legitimately, they tend to achieve it by committing crime."

Seah also said if this crime was not addressed, it becomes a distressing issue for individuals.

"It is important to ensure greater enforcement by the authorities and organisations in order for Malaysia to remain attractive to foreign investors," he said, adding that ICFE and CSI World Headquarters would jointly organise a two-day International Cyber and Economic Crime Conference beginning June 15.

Seah said the conference was aimed at educating professionals and to provide Malaysians an opportunity to update skills, especially in digital forensics, in order to be on par with international standards.

"We are expecting professionals from both the public and private sectors who will gather insights about the field from esteemed local and international speakers," Seah added. (By By Santhia Panjanadan/ Bernama)

Source:MySinchew, http://www.mysinchew.com/node/37655

Comment:

After reading this article, I found that cyber laws or other regulations is not enough to prevent online criminal activities because law is just a reference to determine whether that certain behavior is correct or not. In order to be more effectively the safety on internet, we shall take concern on some other aspects like education, social development, and etc. From the example given by the above article, people would like to involve in cybercrime activities in order to improve their life of quality. And I believe that, a proper education on moral and ethic will be the most efficient tool to reduce cybercrime activities because our action is guide by our own beliefs.

Online Crime Surge in Malaysia

Over 3,500 incidents of online crime were reported just in the first quarter of this year, The Star, a Malaysian daily, reported.

Last year's tally of reported cyber crimes stood at about 8,000 cases, said CyberSecurity Malaysia chief operating officer Zahri Yunos.

"The cases have increased exponentially," he said, pointing to the increase in Internet usage and broadband penetration as factors driving the spike. (Broadband penetration is currently at 55%)

More than a third (36%) of cases reported during the first quarter of 2011 involved online fraud, Zahri said. Phishing and identity theft are included in this category .

"Phishing sites targeting local banks have also increased, with 400 sites detected fir the first quarter of this year compared to 900 last year," he said.

Our advice? Ensure and check if websites are legitimate before submitting any personal information on or through them, A tell-tale sign of a fraudulent website is often an odd or fishy URL.

Also, ensure personal information posted on social networking sites are viewable only by people you trust.

Source: MsnNews, http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4804558

Comment:

The increasing in the online crime activities proved that internet can provide us a convenience platform to do many things but its security development is failed to protect the safety of internet user. Among the cybercrime cases, phishing and identity theft is the most common online fraud activities and the person who found involves in these activities could be charged under Computer Crimes Act 1997 Section 3(1)(a) if he causes a computer to intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer; Section 3(1)(b) the access he intend to secure is unauthorized; Section 3 (1)(c) he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that is the case. The person who found guilty under these sections is liable to up to RM 50,000 fine or 5 year imprisonment or to both. In my opinion, government should increase the punishments by imposed fine on identity theft activities based on the amount of value involved because RM 50,000 is nothing if the case involves more than million dollars.