Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “the Exchange”) urges the public to be wary and alert of online investment scams.
The Exchange has recently seen an increase in reports of investment scams, with scammers now using various social media channels, including Telegram, to lure unsuspecting members of the public to participate in dubious online investment schemes. Many of these scammers have been found to misuse the Bursa Malaysia name and logo, as well as misrepresenting themselves as employees of the Exchange.
Similarly, Malaysia has seen a drastic increase of online scams over the last two years during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Royal Malaysia Police’s commercial crimes investigation department, a total of 71,833 scams, amounting to more than RM5.2 billion losses, was reported from 2020 until May 2022. Among the cases reported, 11,875, or about 17%, were related to loan and investment scams.
Given the increasing number of scam cases, it is important for investors to have the right investment knowledge and tools in order to make informed decisions and easily identify fraudulent activities.
In an effort to ensure public is continuously alerted to scams, the Exchange will commence a series of online posts #stayalert about different types of investment scams misrepresenting Bursa Malaysia which have been reported, covering social media scams, Telegram groups, and the use of forged letterheads and logos. These weekly postings will serve as a regular reminder to the public to be wary of scammers and protect their investments.
Bursa Malaysia advises the public to be more vigilant when approached by parties misrepresenting themselves as having the Exchange’s endorsement or as its employees, and to only follow Bursa Malaysia’s official social media channels (listed below).
Additionally, Bursa Malaysia would like to remind members of the public that the Exchange will not request for them to pool funds for any collective investment scheme, and that they should only invest with licensed investment professionals. Please visit Bursa Academy at: https://bursaacademy.bursamarketplace.com/en/sc-investor-alert.
Should you receive unsolicited or suspicious communications relating to, or claiming to be agents of Bursa Malaysia, please email bursa2u@bursamalaysia.com or call 03 – 2732 0067 to authenticate the content of any such communication. Remember, when in doubt, always verify and report.
Members of the public are invited to visit Bursa Malaysia’s website www.bursamalaysia.com and the following official microsites and social media channels:
• Bursa Marketplace - featuring several major investment tools for new investors to learn the basics of investing,
• Bursa Academy - a one-stop e-learning platform that covers three markets namely equities, derivatives and Islamic capital markets.
• Bursa Malaysia Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/BursaMalaysia
• Bursa Malaysia Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bursamalaysia
• Bursa Malaysia Twitter – https://twitter.com/BursaMalaysia
• Bursa Malaysia LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/bursamalaysia/
• Bursa Malaysia Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/BursaMalaysia
The #stayalert initiative is part of Bursa Malaysia’s public service initiatives to educate members of the public against investment scams, which includes its on-going Sens-Ability, a financial and investment literacy programme.