BANGI, Sept 2 — A total of RM5.16 million in scam proceeds was returned to victims between January and July 2026, representing 65 per cent of the RM7.94 million seized through the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

“For us, the return of money to victims is among the enforcement outcomes that can be directly felt by the people,” he said at a press conference after officiating the 6th International Cyber Resilience Conference (CRC) here today.

He said the figures also indicated that cyber threats were becoming increasingly serious, with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reporting that scam operations in Southeast Asia alone generated tens of billions of dollars annually.

Touching on figures for online sexual abuse, he said cases involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM) increased from 68 in 2024 to 152 last year, while another 100 cases were recorded up to the middle of this year.

“As of April 2026, through Ops Cyber Guardian, involving the cooperation of seven countries, we have successfully led to the arrest of 69 individuals and seized 498,694 digital files, including 205,000 files of child sexual abuse material,” he said.

In addition, he revealed that as of Aug 28, a total of 746 Malaysians had fallen victim to fake job offers abroad.

Therefore, he said, the government and enforcement agencies needed to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) applications to tackle increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals, while taking into account the cross-border nature of such crimes.

He said cybercriminals today were no longer conventional criminals, but operated in syndicates and leveraged rapidly evolving technologies.

“In the context of our discussion, it is about how these AI tools can be utilised among policymakers and enforcement agencies to face criminals who are also sophisticated.

“They (criminals) also use cyber technology and are far ahead of us. They operate across borders and are not conventional criminals, but crime syndicates.

“Generative AI is a new phenomenon. When criminal perpetrators have already mastered it, we cannot remain stuck in our old ways,” he said.

Themed Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in Global Cyber Resilience, CRC 2026 emphasises the nation’s capability to not only prevent cyber threats but also prepare, respond, recover and adapt when disruptions occur, while ensuring the nation’s critical functions continue to operate.

CRC 2026 is taking place over three days in a hybrid format, with around 321 physical attendees and 149 online attendees from within the country and abroad.

Among the strategic focuses of the conference are two forums related to the Cyber Crime Fusion Centre (CCFC), in line with the CCFC Establishment Study, which is now entering its second phase, encompassing the development of a Governance Model and an Operational Model.

The study involves the Home Affairs Ministry (KDN) through the Institute of Public Security of Malaysia (IPSOM), in collaboration with the Cyber Security Academia Malaysia (CSAM) and relevant strategic partners. — Bernama