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Tag: fraude

  • China, Myanmar, Thailand Unite to Combat Rising Telecom Fraud Threats Together

    China, Myanmar, Thailand Unite to Combat Rising Telecom Fraud Threats Together

    In a decisive move against burgeoning criminal enterprises, China, Myanmar, and Thailand have committed to strengthening their collaboration in dismantling elaborate scam networks proliferating across Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on the notorious Myawaddy region. This area has gained infamy as a major hub for fraudulent activities, and the three nations aim to eradicate such operations.

    Strengthening Cross-Border Alliances

    China’s Ministry of Public Security unveiled this agreement following a recent trilateral ministerial meeting dedicated to intensifying efforts against telecom fraud. Attended by law enforcement officials from each country, the high-level gathering was a platform for discussing comprehensive action plans to apprehend suspects and obliterate scam centers in Myawaddy and other known hotbeds of deceit. The endeavors have already seen over 5,400 Chinese nationals repatriated to China for investigation linked to their involvement in fraud schemes.

    Past Success Fuels Future Initiatives

    This isn’t China’s first foray into collaborative law enforcement; the nation has previously allied with its Southeast Asian neighbors to tackle telecom fraud. In 2024 alone, joint operations between Chinese and Myanmar police led to the arrest of more than 53,000 suspects within major scam compunds along the China-Myanmar border. China’s effectiveness in this realm was further demonstrated by the successful repatriation of 268 suspects engaged in cross-border telecommunications fraud, through cooperation with Laos.

    A Call for Broader Alignment

    China’s strategy is not limited to these three nations. The government is actively encouraging additional Southeast Asian countries, such as Cambodia and Vietnam, to partake in its crusade against online gambling and telecom scams, which frequently operate in tandem. Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, articulated that engaging in these battles is essential for protecting the common interests of China and its regional partners. It’s a bit like forming a super team against digital villains, where every country’s participation can tilt the scales of justice.

    Supporting Regional Frameworks

    International support for this trilateral initiative has been forthcoming. Benedikt Hofmann, Acting Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, deemed the cooperation as “encouraging,” highlighting its potential to pave the way for deeper, sustained regional cooperation in the fight against crime.

    Questions & Answers

    How are China, Myanmar, and Thailand planning to strengthen their cooperation against telecom fraud?
    The three nations recently met to agree on intensified joint crackdowns on telecom fraud, including the commitment to arrest all suspects and eliminate scam operations, particularly in Myawaddy.

    What past successes have contributed to the current efforts against scam networks?
    In 2024, a collaborative effort led to the arrest of over 53,000 suspects in Myanmar, as well as the repatriation of 268 suspects involved in cross-border telecom fraud.

    Which other countries is China encouraging to join this fight against online scams?
    China is inviting Cambodia and Vietnam to participate in the fight against telecom scams and online gambling, emphasizing the need for a united front in safeguarding regional interests.

  • Singapore Sees Surge in Fraud Losses Amid Rising APP Scam Threats

    Singapore Sees Surge in Fraud Losses Amid Rising APP Scam Threats

    Cybercriminal strategies increasingly shift in Singapore, revealing vulnerabilities amidst a surge in human-led attacks.

    In a striking revelation, the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report APAC 2025 underscores a significant shift in the cyber threat landscape in Singapore. While the overall volume of automated bot attacks witnessed a 27% decline, human-initiated cyberattacks skyrocketed by 30% year-on-year, reflecting a meticulous targeting by cybercriminals.

    Singapore’s financial services sector found itself at the epicenter of this alarming trend, grappling with a 13% rise in attack rates—three times the nation’s average growth. The report highlights, “Singapore’s financial services sector was hit especially hard, showing a 13% increase in attack rate—three times the country’s overall attack rate growth.”

    Last year also saw fraud losses reaching unprecedented levels, with tactics shifting from third-party account takeovers to authorized push payment (APP) fraud, suggesting a sophisticated evolution in criminal strategies.

    Across the broader Asia Pacific region, human-initiated cyberattacks surged by 61% year-on-year, notably reversing last year’s downturn and outpacing global trends. This spike comes even as online transaction volume increased by 16%, leading to a 37% rise in attack rates fueled by more complex fraud techniques and the swift expansion of cross-border criminal operations.

    In an intriguing twist, while automated bot activity dropped by 15%, the communications, mobile, and media sector experienced the steepest increase in fraud, with attack rates soaring by 87% and bot volumes climbing by 59%. The financial services sector also remains a prime target, noting a 54% rise in attack rates alongside a 40% increase in bot activity.

    Mobile transactions continue to dominate the APAC market, accounting for 86% of all consumer interactions and 50% of fraudulent activities. While volumes of mobile attacks declined by 7%, the platform remains a hotbed for cybercriminals due to its widespread use and accessibility.

    In contrast, desktop-based fraud persists as a significant challenge, with attack rates surpassing the global average at 5.5%. LexisNexis attributes these figures to persistent vulnerabilities in traditional web interfaces and user behaviors that present easier targets on desktop platforms.

    The predominant form of fraud in the region remains third-party account takeover, constituting 66.3% of all detected fraud. This is closely followed by first-party fraud at 6.3% and buyer fraud at 4.9%. As cybercriminals fine-tune their approaches, a vigilant defense becomes crucial.

    Questions & Answers

    What factors are contributing to the rise of human-initiated cyberattacks in Singapore?
    Cybercriminals are adapting their tactics with increasing precision, targeting the lucrative financial services sector, which reported a significant increase in attacks, alongside broader trends across the Asia Pacific region.

    How does mobile fraud compare to desktop-based fraud in the Asia Pacific?
    Mobile fraud remains a major focus for cybercriminals, accounting for 50% of all fraudulent activities, although desktop-based fraud has attack rates more than double the global average.

    What are the most common forms of fraud identified in the report?
    The report highlights that third-party account takeover is the most prevalent form of fraud, making up 66.3% of all detected incidents, followed by first-party fraud and buyer fraud.

  • UBS U.S. Legal Dispute Ends With a Wire Transfer

    UBS U.S. Legal Dispute Ends With a Wire Transfer

    A lengthy legal battle waged ends in defeat for the Swiss bank and a multi-million dollar wire transfer to a former compliance officer in Chicago.

    Having exhausted multiple appeals in a defamation suit in the United States, and with no option left other than the Supreme Court, UBS’s business in the U.S. agreed to pay a former compliance officer $14.1 million via wire transfer on April 12, ending a four-year legal dispute, according to a report from advisorhub.com.

    The officer was fired in 2018, and sued the firm later that year for defamation, initially winning an $11.1 million award following arbitration. He alleged his termination filing, known as a U5, was defamatory as he had been accused of supervisory failings of employees executing uncovered options strategies. He also stood accused of giving «varied responses» when his actions were reviewed, the report said.

    He was one of several people fired after a number of junior brokers cost the firm $3.7 million in options trades in employee accounts, but the former officer said he was not properly informed by the firm’s supervision office of margin calls against the brokers, and sued the firm.

    He was awarded $11.1 million in December 2019 in what was the largest employee arbitration penalty that year. The award comprised $7.5 million in punitive damages, $3.1 million in compensatory damages for severance, and nearly $500,000 in legal fees.

    The award was upheld by a court in January of 2020, with the judgment increasing to over $12 million as it included additional statutory interest and attorney fees.

    Ultimately, UBS ended up paying around $3 million more than the initial amount due to the lengthy appeals process because of the accrued interest and increased legal costs.

    Now, to continue appealing the case, the UBS would have had to petition the United States Supreme court. A UBS spokesperson declined to comment, according to the report.

  • BlackBerry seeks to settle suit accusing it of fraudulently pumping up BlackBerry 10 demand

    BlackBerry seeks to settle suit accusing it of fraudulently pumping up BlackBerry 10 demand

    BlackBerry is no longer in the business of designing and building smartphones and developing apps for them. The company is seeking to settle a lawsuit that claimed BlackBerry committed fraud by pumping up the profitability of its defunct BlackBerry 10 line of phones. Today, a federal judge in Manhattan federal court, at BlackBerry’s request, adjourned a trial so that a preliminary settlement could be negotiated for the class action suit.

    Jury selection was to start tomorrow. Any settlement between BlackBerry and the class will need approval from U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. BlackBerry 10 was based on a whole new operating system called QNX which was developed by a company called QNX Software Systems which BlackBerry bought in 2010.

    BlackBerry considered this a chance to reboot its smartphone line. It brought in a new CEO (Thorsten Heins) and changed the name of the parent company from Research in Motion to BlackBerry. The firm released several BlackBerry 10 models including the Z10, a 4.2-inch touchscreen phone without a physical QWERTY. Perhaps the most interesting BlackBerry 10 model was the Passport which was the size of a, well, passport.

    The Passport was equipped with a 4.5-inch display, a wider than normal QWERTY keyboard with a square 1440 x 1440 resolution. It had a physical QWERTY that also made use of the touchscreen for secondary keys, punctuation, and numbers. This phone might have worked had BlackBerry moved to Android earlier instead of stubbornly holding on to its own operating system.

    In fact, BlackBerry 10 was a decent OS but did not have a fully stocked app storefront which led BlackBerry to finally give up and use Android on the BlackBerry Priv, a phone with a vertically sliding physical QWERTY keyboard.

    The lawsuit accuses BlackBerry of misleading stockholders by failing to reveal the true sales prospects for the BlackBerry 10 line which members of the class claim led to an overinflated BlackBerry stock price. Other defendants in the class action include former Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins, former Chief Financial Officer Brian Bidulka, and former Chief Legal Officer Steve Zipperstein.

    BlackBerry eventually licensed its name and software to Chinese manufacturer TCL who almost made a go of it by releasing the BlackBerry KeyOne, Key2, and Key2 LE. But TCL stopped making BlackBerry phones in August 2020 when its license with BlackBerry expired. That same month, a company called OnwardMobility announced that it had signed a licensing partnership with BlackBerry for the first 5G ‘Berry.

    The new phone was supposed to be introduced in 2021, but no device was ever introduced. Behind the scenes, it was obvious that BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who had been receiving compliments for turning the company into a successful cybersecurity software provider, had no desire to return to the smartphone business. BlackBerry sold off its remaining smartphone assets (including patents) for $600 million.

    Less than three weeks after announcing the sell-off of its remaining smartphone assets, OnwardMobility confirmed the rumors that had been spreading: it would not release a new 5G BlackBerry and such a device would probably never be produced.

    The decision by the judge to adjourn the trial to allow BlackBerry to negotiate a settlement is not unusual. Reuters cited a study by Cornerstone Research which states that from 1997 to 2021 less than 1% of federal securities class actions cases ended up going to trial. Instead, the vast majority of such actions ended up settled or dismissed.

    BlackBerry currently is valued at close to $4 billion, a far cry from the close to $80 billion that the company was worth in 2008 when it still was one of the top smartphone manufacturers in the world. BlackBerry management’s failure to take the iPhone seriously as a threat and its stubborn refusal to make Android phones until it was too late are major reasons behind the decline and fall of the company in the smartphone space.

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  • Fraudulent digital apps stalk, rob Vietnamese netizens

    Fraudulent digital apps stalk, rob Vietnamese netizens

    Investment platforms offering quick, handsome profits are mushrooming in Vietnam as fraudsters look to take advantage of gullible social media users.

    Over 700 reports have recently been filed with HCMC police by thousands who have been tricked by smartphone app Coolcat. The extent of fraud is estimated at VND200 billion ($8.7 million), the police said.

    This is just one of many apps that have made their appearance in Vietnam recently, aiming to trick investors with promises of quick and easy profits.

    Over 160 investors this month claimed to have been tricked by Bounty, a website that rewards users with money if they interact with online vendors on social media, such as liking a post on Facebook or subscribing to a YouTube channel. There are 10 levels of users, and users up their levels by putting in more money, which will allow them to complete tasks with higher profits.

    Ngoc, an investor, was able to gain VND1.4 million ($61) in just a few days, so she decided to invest a total of VND194 million in the platform and invited others to join.

    But on April 24, Bounty investors started to leave the groups and stopped posting on social media; and three days later, the website interface was changed from Vietnamese to Chinese.

    Another platform, Lifeshop, allows users to make money by placing fake orders on online shopping websites. By placing 12 orders a user can make VND25,000, but he or she can make more by spending money to advance to higher levels.

    Similarly, an app called Lucky Money offers commissions of 1-5 percent for each task a user completes, without providing any information about the company behind it.

    Hatching eggs apparently can make money too, with the app TamaGo promising 5 percent interest in just eight hours if investors put in a sum of money to “hatch” a digital egg.

    Promoters of the app say it is developed in Singapore and is being welcomed in Japan and South Korea, but offer no statistics or other evidence.

    “You will never lose,” they assert.

    Dinh Trong Thinh, senior lecturer at the Academy of Finance in Hanoi, said that many investors are drawn to this kind of investment because they think they can withdraw early without making losses.

    This business is not regulated in Vietnam and investors have to engage in them at their own risk, he said.

    Early birds might make some money with these platforms, but later investors will likely lose, he added.

    Ngo Tan Vu Khanh, a faculty member of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, said that creating an app is very easy these days. Whenever a suspicious app crashes, another will replace it. Developers can even make several such apps with some adjustments of users interface to lure new investors in, he said.

    Until there is a legal framework to regulate such apps, users should not invest in them as the chance of losing money is very high, he added.

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  • Luckin Coffee fined US$9 million for accounting fraude

    Luckin Coffee fined US$9 million for accounting fraude

    Disgraced Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee, along with more than 40 other firms involved in the deception, has been fined almost US$9 million for falsifying its financial records.

    According to reporting, China’s finance ministry has previously found Luckin to have booked RMB2.25 billion in sales via counterfeit coupons between April and December last year, as well as having inflated its reported revenues, costs, and profits.

    China’s market regulator found Luckin to have flouted Chinese regulations and misled the public over the period in question.

    “We have carried out an overall rectification on the related issues,” said a representative from the firm in acknowledging that Luckin respected the regulator’s decision. “We will further improve our operations according to related laws and regulations.”

    Luckin was formerly considered a likely competitor against Starbucks within the territory.

  • Muji parent Ryohin Keikaku caught million dollar tax dodge

    Muji parent Ryohin Keikaku caught million dollar tax dodge

    Muji store parent Ryohin Keikaku has been found to have dodged paying ¥7.5 billion (US$68.3 million) in tax by transferring taxable income to its operations in China, where it runs 256 outlets.

    The Japanese retailer has been ordered by the courts to pay the required taxes, which have accrued since 2017, as well as around ¥2.1 billion ($19.1 million) in penalties.

    In a statement, the firm said that although it holds a different view on the policy of double taxation, it has decided to pay the tax as assessed by the tax bureau.

    Ryohin Keikaku has appealed to the tax authority in Japan to deal with its Chinese counterparts to avoid double taxation in future.

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  • Fraudulent transactions hitch for e-commerce growth

    Fraudulent transactions hitch for e-commerce growth

    Interbank network provider Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis says that the popularity of conventional payment methods in e-commerce has made the sector prone to fraudulent transactions, creating potential obstruction to the growth of e-commerce in Indonesia.

    Artajasa information technology (IT) and operation director Bayu Anantasena said in Jakarta on Wednesday that fraudulent transactions happened due to the lack of a payment authentication procedure in conventional payment methods, including bank transfers and cash-on-delivery (COD) payment.

    The company records that 75 percent of Indonesian e-commerce customers make payments through bank transfers, 20 percent through COD and the remaining 5 percent through credit cards and other methods.

    “Fraudulent transactions occur due to a lack of authentication between e-commerce merchants, issuing banks and customers. As e-commerce businesses grow in Indonesia, transaction security becomes more important for their development,” he said.

    The government expects that by 2020, that nation will record US$130 billion in e-commerce transactions, in line with the country’s anticipated digital boom in following years.

    As many as 87 issuing banks are currently using Artajasa’s ATM Bersama network, including Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN).