KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are reluctant to be whistle blowers because they are afraid of being labelled as "busybodies", said a local expert on fraud behaviour.

The busybody label is the number one reason why fraud cases are not reported ahead of fear of threat to human life and fear of losing job benefits, said Malaysian chapter president of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Akh- bar Satar.

"They are scared their friends and colleagues will turn away from them. Malay- sians would rather be popular and praised than be condemned," he said recently.

The association estimates that in Malaysia, 80 per cent of economic crime, which is a type of fraud activity, are not reported because of the busybody label, fear of threat to human life and fear of losing job benefits.

Worldwide, only 2.34 per cent of economic crime cases were detected and 85 per cent of that number was not reported to authorities, said Akhbar, adding that an estimated three per cent of detected cases were prosecuted.
Economic crime is defined as acts in violation of criminal law designed to bring financial reward to an offender. The crime also involves illegal business activity.

Examples of economic crime are criminal breach of trust, forgery, misuse of power, pyramid schemes, identity theft and money laundering.

Economic crime in Malaysia caused a loss of RM833 million in 2006 compared with RM799 million in 2005, said Akhbar, quoting Bukit Aman police statistics. The loss was RM837 million in 2004 compared with RM579.5 million in 2003. In 1998, the loss was RM4.6 billion.

In April, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled a comprehensive reform of the country's graft-busting efforts.