The scam involved a 17-year-old student whose photograph was allegedly used in an Instagram advertisement to lure victims into paying for access to a Telegram group supposedly containing indecent videos and photos.
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Public Complaints Bureau chief Milton Foo said the bureau recently received a request for assistance from the student after her male classmate spotted the advertisement featuring her profile picture.
According to Foo, the advertisement offered access to a Telegram group allegedly containing “secretly recorded private videos and indecent photos” for RM25.
He warned that scam syndicates were increasingly targeting younger people, including secondary school students, instead of focusing solely on adults.
The student was reportedly worried that her photograph could have been manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) face-swapping technology to create fake indecent images.
Foo said the student then asked a friend to contact the scammer through Telegram to join the group and collect evidence before a police report was lodged.
However, after the friend made an initial payment, the scammer allegedly claimed the payment method was wrong and demanded more money.
The friend eventually made five payments totalling RM125 through Boost e-wallet but was still unable to access the group, leading them to realise they had fallen victim to a scam.
Foo said chat records and payment receipts submitted to the bureau showed that the scammer had requested payment through the e-wallet.
He warned that using students’ photographs to create AI-generated indecent content could seriously violate minors’ privacy and dignity while potentially causing significant psychological harm.
Foo called for the government to establish an inter-agency cybercrime task force involving the Ministry of Finance, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police to monitor and act against illegal activities on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.
He said the task force should address various online offences and scams, including illegal money lending, the sale of indecent videos and photographs, drug trafficking, the sale of bank accounts or cards, online gambling and cryptocurrency investment scams.
“Cyber scams are evolving rapidly. The government can no longer adopt a ‘treat the head for a headache and the foot for a foot ache’ approach. The problem must be solved at its root,” he said.
Foo also urged parents and schools to closely monitor children’s smartphone use and teach them about online safety, including avoiding suspicious links and never transferring money to strangers over purported private photos or videos that could be AI-generated or part of a scam.
Anyone whose photograph has been misused should immediately lodge a police report, notify the MCMC and report the offending content to the relevant social media platform for removal, he said.
Foo stressed that creating, distributing or selling indecent material involving minors are offences under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Students or parents who encounter similar cases can also contact the SUPP Public Complaints Bureau for assistance, he added.
