KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Cyber crimes should be tackled with urgency as the financial losses reported in such cases have increased, said Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) vice-president Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

He said that according to police statistics, cyber crimes resulted in losses of RM398.6 million in 2018 compared to RM266.25 million in 2017.

"MCPF feels that more education programmes should be organised to help people identify cyber threats so that they would not become victims.

"All quarters must give their commitment to build a world of internet with humanitarian values and which is safe from exploitation by criminals,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

According to police, 4,385 cyber crime cases involving losses of RM152.96 million were reported in the first five months of this year, which is about 38 per cent of the losses reported for the whole of last year.

Meanwhile, Prof Mohamad Fauzan Noordin, a lecturer of the International Islamic University of Malaysia, has been appointed as cluster chairman of the MCPF Cyber Security Committee which was set up on May 8 this year. — Bernama