KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): Complaints and enquiries the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) received from the public are on the rise, a trend the capital market regulator observed as greater public awareness and scepticism.
Total cases climbed 22% to 6,893 in 2025 from a year earlier, according to the SC’s Annual Report 2025 released on Tuesday. Complaints rose over 15% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 4,431, while enquiries increased 26% to 2,462.
Around 61% of complaints pertained to unlicensed activities and scams, while it stood at 70% for enquiries.
“The SC finds this encouraging as this reflects greater public awareness and scepticism where the public is mindful to check with the SC before investing,” the SC said.
According to the SC, scams comprise various types such as those involving non-existent investment products, while unlicensed activities are where individuals or entities conduct regulated business without being licensed or registered with the SC.
“The primary difference between an investment scam and other types of scams lies in the nature of deception and the focus of fraudulent activity,” it noted.
SC’s observation on scammers’ tactics
Scammers have continued to evolve their tactics and exploit behavioural biases to deceive the investing public.
Based on the SC’s analysis of complaints and enquiries findings last year, the capital market regulator found that scammers' playbook comprised a number of manipulation tactics, including: manipulating greed and fear of missing out; fabricating credibility and social proof; personalised outreach and relationship-based manipulation; exploiting trending products and investor vulnerabilities; and use of unregulated platforms and deceptive applications.
New emerging trends include fake investment lesson advertisements online, a clone of the SC’s investment checker and public registrar of public register of license holders and registered persons, misuse of cryptocurrency for fund transfers, and the use of SSM-incorporated companies’ bank accounts to receive illicit funds.