Malaysian PM's Signal and Telegram accounts compromised

Malaysian prime minster (PM) Ismail Sabri's Telegram and Signal accounts have been compromised, confirmed the PM in a statement on Twitter. Sabri (pictured) said that his Telegram account was compromised on 8 August by irresponsible individuals, and urged the public to report the account as well as any messages received from the account to the relevant authorities. A report has already been made to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Royal Malaysian Police.

Replying to the Tweet, Telegram also urged its users to not share their Telegram log in access code and to additionally secure their accounts through its two step verification process. 

https://twitter.com/IsmailSabri60/status/1556559359613669376?s=20&t=cxrM-9tthmQIAM-rjzYbaQ

https://twitter.com/telegram/status/1556822346568290304?s=20&t=cxrM-9tthmQIAM-rjzYbaQ

Subsequently, on 9 August, Sabri posted another statement on Twitter, to announce that his Signal account has also been hacked, and to ignore any messages received from those accounts. In the statement, Sabri said that the irresponsible individuals who have compromised his account are most likely trying to scam people by posing as the PM. 

"Victims of scams need to make a report to the MCMC and the Royal Malaysian Police as soon as possible to aid in investigations," the statement said. 

https://twitter.com/IsmailSabri60/status/1556812413617389568?s=20&t=cxrM-9tthmQIAM-rjzYbaQ

Scam cases have been rampant in Malaysia. In 2020, MCMC set up an official Telegram channel for its information verification portal, sebenarnya.my. to address the spread of fake news on social media. Launched in March 2017, the sebenarnya.my portal is part of MCMC's efforts to combat the spreading of false news. Through the portal, members of the public can check and report news items that have not been authenticated, which they could have received either through social media, short messaging services, blogs or websites.

Twitter had also suspended BermanaTV for violating its community standards in the same year. MCMC said the parody account was impersonating the image of Malaysia's national news agency Bernama and urged consumers to be aware of fake accounts on social media.

Meanwhile, just recently, the Royal Malaysian Police warned the public on social media of an on going SMS scam messages from MySejahtera app for financial aid through Touch ‘n Go's e-wallet. Victims received fake links from unknown numbers claiming that MySejahtera has credited their COVID-19 financial aid.

Related articles:
MCMC launches official Telegram channel to combat fake COVID-19 news
Twitter suspends BernamaTV parody account
MY Police warns of SMS scam with MySejahtera app and Touch ‘n Go