“My Telegram account has been hacked by irresponsible individuals who have abused my name and picture through the application,” Saifuddin said in a Twitter post late last night.

He urged those who received messages purportedly from him on the mobile messaging application to ignore them and report to the authorities.

Yesterday evening, the prime minister’s office confirmed that Ismail’s personal Telegram and Signal accounts had been hacked and misused for scams.

It also said reports had been made to the police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), while people who received messages from the accounts were advised to ignore them.

Late last month, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar lodged a police report over the misuse of his identity to request money through Telegram.

While he was not hacked, Wan Junaidi said his name and picture had been used to ask the public for money through the app.