KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has so far received 121 reports on scam advertisements using names and images of high-profile individuals on social media platforms, according to Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.
She said that among the prominent figures whose identities have been misused in such fraudulent ads are the King of Malaysia, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim; the Sultan of Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah; Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah; and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Teo also highlighted a recent incident involving herself, where she became a victim of a scam ad on Facebook, raising concerns about the role of platform operators, which appear to be acting as accomplices to such fraudulent activities.
“Lately, there have been many fake ads on Facebook, one of which claimed that I was giving away 2,000 free books. I asked MCMC to file a report with Meta. While one ad was removed, a second one appeared, followed by a third.
“By this morning, I received a message saying the ad was still up, and it was already the sixth version,” Teo revealed during Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today. – Bernama
— More to follow
