The SC said it collaborated with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and CyberSecurity Malaysia to bar access from Malaysia to these websites, which are not authorised to offer investment facilities to the Malaysian public.

The six websites are:

• www.abbfund.com or www.abfund.us;
• www.cfdventure.com;
• www.swedenfund.com;
• www.uebond.com;
• www.esuissefund.com or www.efmf.com.pa; and
• www.ecashfinance.com

"This exercise to block access to illegal investment websites will be done in stages and is an ongoing process, with more websites to be blocked in the following months as the SC continues its investigations," it said in a statement.

The move came following the SC's announcement on May 31 that it would start blocking access to such websites from June 11. Investors were alerted to withdraw their funds before that.

The regulator said it had to resort to this after nationwide awareness programmes and the distribution of a list of unauthorised websites on the SC website and to the public failed to stop them from putting their money in such schemes.

The SC said yesterday that between June 1 and 11, it received about 700 enquiries on illegal Internet investment schemes from the public, some indicating "they had lost large sums of money".

"Investors who are still participating in such illegal investment schemes via the Internet are reminded to withdraw their investments and terminate their accounts immediately. Investors will not be able to enter their accounts once access to the websites is blocked."

The SC said it will also take other measures, including enforcement against the operators and agents.

It reminded the public to only invest with parties it has licensed so that they are protected by securities laws.

Its website, www.sc.com.my, has a list of companies and individuals licensed to engage in investment activity. It also has a periodically-updated list of companies and websites which are not authorised to deal in securities, provide investment advice and/or fund management services.