According to its Whoscall Annual Report 2024, Malaysia recorded the highest rate of personal data leaks among key Asian markets and also saw scam calls surge by 82.81% last year.
“SMS scams also increased by 19.97%, showing that scammers are relying more on calls while still using text messages to deceive victims,” said Gogolook in a statement.
The company said its report analysed scam data collected between January and December 2024 from Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
“Nearly 72.5% of users who checked their status via Whoscall’s ID security feature discovered their information had been compromised,” read the statement.
Gogolook’s Malaysia business development director Voon Chang Liew said while phone numbers were the most leaked data across all countries, Malaysia also stood out for its high rate of names leaked at 89% of total data leaked, followed by addresses and emails.
“This makes impersonation scams more convincing, as scammers exploit leaked names to pose as banks, government agencies or delivery services,” he said.
The Whoscall app, developed by Gogolook, prevents scam calls using their growing database that identifies harmful phone numbers.
Earlier this month, Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department director Ramli Yoosuf said financial losses resulting from scams in Malaysia surged to RM1.57 billion in 2024, up from RM1.22 billion in 2023.
“To combat this, the police are continuing their strategic partnership with Whoscall by sharing PDRM-verified scam numbers with the Whoscall app,” he said.
Gogolook said banking fraud, gambling scams and phishing were the most common types of fraud reported in 2024.
“The top reported scam and spam calls involved banking or debt collection (25.15%), followed by scammers impersonating authorities or businesses (22.40%).
“Gambling-related scams made up 45.16% of SMS scams, followed by financial scams (21.47%), including fake investment opportunities and fraudulent money-lending services.
“Other common scam messages included parcel scams (5.29%), telecom fraud (5.60%) and fake payment reminders (5.82%),” said the company.
Gogolook also said its Whoscall app found 16.56% of malicious links were disguised as registration pages, tricking victims into submitting personal data.
“Another 16.52% directed users to fraudulent software downloads, which could install malware or spyware on their devices,” said the company.