‘More awareness programmes on scams’

MORE awareness programmes on scam activities will be organised by Johor National Consumer Action Council (MTPN) to warn the public about these types of crime.

Johor MTPN president Noorman Kamsani said the council was also planning to send a proposal to the government to beef up Consumer Protection Act 1999 so that it was more suited to today’s consumer environment.

“Last year alone, we received more than 400 reports of scam cases from consumers who had been duped, which included cases of online purchases.

“We can also read news reports on scam cases almost weekly where the losses sometimes reach millions of ringgit.

“Our objective for this new year is to be closer to the public and the government so that we can find ways to protect consumers,” he said when contacted by StarMetro.

Noorman said the high number of scam cases also showed that there was still a huge gap in awareness regarding the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) 997 hotline number.

“There are cases where victims did not know what to do after falling for fake online products or being misled to purchase something different from what they wanted.

“We plan to provide our input on this matter to the government so that we can improve Consumer Protection Act 1999,” he said.

He noted that there were already examples of policies from other countries that could be implemented in Malaysia.

Noorman said MTPN planned to meet with government representatives this year to introduce the concept of consumer cosmopolitanism.

The concept would show that consumer preference was driven more by authenticity rather than where a product was made, he said.

He added that consumer cosmopolitanism had five major components: education ecology, basic ecology, cultural ecology, economic ecology and consumer ecology.

“Education ecology aims to create educational programmes and awareness campaigns to help people understand the value of cultural and global diversity in technology use,” said Noorman.

“Basic ecology attempts to regularly examine and analyse previous and new policies to ensure they are in line with market progress, societal demands and consumer needs.

“Cultural ecology will provide opportunities for different business promotions for other enterprises while also providing a more accurate business approach through understanding the local culture.

“Economic ecology will ensure a healthier ecosystem and provide high-quality business deals,” he elaborated.

He also said consumer ecology tried to understand and recognise human rights for users, as well as comply with government laws, rules or policies created to safeguard consumers.