The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has detected and requested the removal of over 127,000 pieces of fraudulent content spread across multiple social media platforms since the start of 2025, according to Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil. Speaking at a press conference following a Cabinet meeting in Putrajaya on August 19, Fahmi revealed that scam-related content constitutes a significant share of all removal requests processed by the regulator throughout this period.
The breakdown of platforms hosting these deceptive posts paints a concerning picture of fraud distribution in Malaysia's digital ecosystem. Facebook accounts for the largest share at 53 percent of detected scam content, whilst TikTok hosts 39 percent. The remaining 8 percent is distributed across other social media services, indicating that whilst scam activity permeates the broader social media landscape, two platforms dominate the fraudulent landscape. These figures underscore the challenge regulators face in combating online fraud at scale, particularly given the viral nature and ease of content dissemination on these platforms.
Further contextualising the scale of the problem, Fahmi explained that scam content removal requests represent approximately 27 percent of all content deletion demands submitted by the MCMC to platforms during this eight-month period. This substantial proportion demonstrates that fraud has emerged as one of the most pervasive categories of harmful content requiring regulatory intervention, competing with other categories such as hate speech, extremism, and child safety violations for the regulator's attention and resources.
A significant driver of this scam proliferation is the widespread use of fraudulent accounts that create the illusion of legitimacy whilst concealing criminal intent. These fake profiles enable scammers to exploit trust mechanisms built into social platforms, allowing them to target vulnerable users more effectively. The systematic deployment of counterfeit identities represents a deliberate strategy by criminal networks to evade detection and build convincing facades for their schemes.
In response to the scale of this challenge, the government has implemented new regulatory frameworks designed to hold social media platforms accountable for harmful content circulating on their services. Two primary codes have been established under the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866), which took effect on June 1. The Child Protection Code (CPC) focuses specifically on safeguarding minors from exploitation and harmful material, whilst the Risk Mitigation Code (RMC) addresses broader threats to users' personal property and safety, encompassing fraud, scams, and other economically harmful activities.
Platforms identified as having significant reach and influence in Malaysia have been granted a transitional period spanning several months to achieve full compliance with both codes. This grace period reflects the government's recognition that implementing comprehensive content moderation systems requires substantial operational restructuring and investment. However, platforms are expected to demonstrate tangible progress towards compliance during this timeframe, with the implicit understanding that failure to comply could result in enforcement actions including content blocking, account suspension, or regulatory penalties.
The resource intensity of content moderation presents a substantial operational burden that extends beyond individual platforms to affect government agencies themselves. The MCMC personnel involved in processing removal requests must complete detailed documentation for each piece of content flagged for deletion, a process that typically consumes between 30 to 45 minutes per item. This time-intensive workflow, when multiplied across thousands of daily requests, generates significant cumulative resource demands that strain the commission's operational capacity and budget allocations. The complexity of coordinating removal requests across multiple platforms with varying technical systems and compliance procedures further compounds these challenges.
To reduce public vulnerability to scam-related financial and personal losses, Fahmi has encouraged Malaysian citizens to prioritise information verification through dedicated government resources. The Sebenarnya.my portal and MyCheck service represent official fact-checking mechanisms designed to help the public distinguish authentic information from fabricated content before sharing or acting upon it. Additionally, reliance on established mainstream media outlets provides an alternative pathway to information that typically incorporates editorial verification and accountability structures absent from user-generated social media content.
For Malaysia's digital landscape, the scam epidemic reflects a broader pattern affecting Southeast Asia, where rapidly expanding internet penetration and social media adoption have created fertile ground for organised fraud networks operating across borders. The profitability of online scams, combined with the relative anonymity afforded by digital platforms and the difficulty in enforcing laws across jurisdictional boundaries, has attracted criminal entrepreneurs operating from within the region and internationally. Malaysian citizens have increasingly become targets for elaborate schemes ranging from investment fraud and loan scams to romance and impersonation scams, causing hundreds of millions of ringgit in cumulative losses.
The coordination between MCMC and social media platforms represents an important but inherently limited approach to addressing this challenge. Whilst content removal can disrupt individual scam campaigns and reduce their reach, criminal networks adapt quickly by deploying new accounts, refining messaging, and shifting to less-monitored platforms. The two-month detection and removal cycle creates temporal gaps that allow persistent scammers to operate within windows of opportunity. Moreover, detection itself relies on user reporting and algorithmic flagging, meaning a portion of fraudulent content likely circulates undetected for extended periods before removal.
The legislative framework introduced through the Online Safety Act 2025 represents an attempt to shift responsibility for content moderation beyond reactive government intervention towards proactive platform accountability. By mandating compliance with specific codes addressing child protection and risk mitigation, the government has established clear standards against which platform performance can be measured. However, the effectiveness of this regulatory model depends substantially on platforms' genuine commitment to implementation rather than mere technical compliance, and on regulators' capacity to monitor and enforce adherence across complex, rapidly-evolving digital environments.
Moving forward, Malaysian consumers should remain vigilant regarding unsolicited financial requests, investment opportunities promising unrealistic returns, and communications from unfamiliar contacts requesting personal information. Complementary efforts addressing consumer financial literacy, strengthening cross-border law enforcement cooperation, and developing more sophisticated detection technologies will prove essential to reducing the scam ecosystem's profitability and reach. The regulatory momentum evidenced by the Online Safety Act 2025 signals government commitment to this challenge, though sustained political and resource investment will be required to achieve meaningful progress against an increasingly sophisticated and organised fraud landscape.
