KULAI: A call to the 997 hotline for the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) under the police will be treated as a police report, eliminating the need for scam victims to lodge separate reports at a police station, says Teo Nie Ching.

The Deputy Communications Minister also said the 997 hotline would operate 24-hours a day from September to improve assistance for victims amid a rising trend of online scams.

She also said that as of July 15, 46,817 scam-related advertisements had been detected.

“This will save victims time and hassle,” she told reporters after inspecting a concrete drainage project to address flash floods at Kampung Melayu Bukit Batu here Saturday (July 26).

Teo said 80% of scam ads were detected on Facebook, often misusing names of high-profile individuals.

According to hear, 6,297 fraudulent advertisements were removed across social media platforms in 2024.

She added she was also a victim when her photos were used in fake ads offering free books by the former education minister.

“Even after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) removed the ads, other accounts uploaded the same scam. I am unhappy with Meta for allowing this to continue,” she said. – Bernama