KUCHING: The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry is working to turn its focus on handling complex issues such as online fraud.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, said that enforcement officers need to attend specific courses to learn forensic accounting and so on in order to learn how to detect fraud.
“We will request the government to give opportunities to our enforcement people to improve their qualifications for dealing with very sophisticated and complex problems such as online fraud,” he said.
He noted that the Covid-19 pandemic and movement control order (MCO) had resulted in many traders shifting to online platforms.
“The ministry has relevant regulations governing fraud linked to online businesses and so on,” he said during an interview on Episode 8, Season 2 of TVS’ Twenty30 programme moderated by senior fellow of the Malaysian Council of Professors (MPN) Dr Jeniri Amir.
At the same time, consumers are responsible for protecting themselves from being victims of fraud, he said.
Referring to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, he commended him for having foresight in driving the agenda of digitalisation and digital economy from much earlier on.
“In the beginning, many people said he was too futuristic, but now he has been proven very right. It took the Covid-19 pandemic for most of them to believe he was right from the beginning,” said Nanta.
He pointed out that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also recently launched the national Digital Economy Blueprint.
“We are moving in the right direction and the future of our nation’s economy is bright as digitalisation makes it easier for us to trade, be it domestically or globally,” he said.
