Saturday, November 28, 2020

Here’s how Macau scammers conned Malaysians out of RM256mil this year

Nation INTERACTIVE: Here’s how Macau scammers conned Malaysians out of RM256mil this year How many tricks are there up a Macau scammer's sleeves? Find out here!

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<br /> <br /> https://youtu.be/nWit-fW13ZY <br /> <br />

PETALING JAYA: Macau scammers, who have conned Malaysians out of a whopping RM256mil this year, specialise in tricking victims into believing they’re in a jam that they can only get out of by handing over money.

How do they do it?

It starts with a phone call. They introduce themselves either as a policeman, bank officer, PosLaju worker or various other fake identities.

Step two is the fake story.

They tell their potential victims that they are being investigated for money laundering, or that a package addressed to them has been seized by the police and found to contain illicit items. There are many other similar storylines they use.

Their motive is to scare victims into believing they’re in trouble... unless they transfer money into certain bank accounts, or set up “mule accounts” – bank accounts registered under the victim’s name but which are controlled by the scammers.

To find out what these criminals’ bag of tricks looks like, we studied all the news reports we could find about Macau scam cases in Malaysia this year, published by The Star and other local news media.

In all, the 71 news reports we examined were based on statements or media conferences by the police.

https://clips.thestar.com.my/Interactive/scammercall/scamcalls.mp4

We also looked at statements from the police regarding overall Macau scam statistics, as well as advice from the police and other relevant authorities on how to identify and avoid being conned by these scammers.

Here’s what we found: Macau scammers have many fake stories and identities

From the news reports, we found that Macau scammers use at least 18 different stories to carry out their cons. Check them out in the graphic below:
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Some Macau scammers have also gone high tech.

After telling potential victims that they are suspected of having been involved in a crime, they would then ask them to download a computer application file or go to a website in order to enter their banking details.

The apps and website that the scammers create bear the logo of bodies such as Bank Negara Malaysia.

Source: Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JSJKPDRM/)

Source: Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JSJKPDRM/)Source: Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JSJKPDRM/)

Macau scammers, according to the news reports, impersonated officers from at least 10 different types of law enforcement agencies or financial institutions.

To make their con more convincing, they sometimes claim to be high ranking officials.

The following are some samples of just a few of the many actual fake identities used by some of the scammers and how they cheat their victims:

https://view.genial.ly/5fb101bc8224a710119a4190

Following are the Macau Scam stories which The Star has carried since January this year, divided by the type of official the scammer impersonates. Click pause to manually scroll through the cards. Click on any card to read the full story,

Housewife cheated out of RM60k by 'policeman' in Macau scam

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/08/24/housewife-cheated-out-of-rm60k-by-039policeman039-in-macau-scamhttps://view.genial.ly/5fb101bc8224a710119a4190https://view.genial.ly/5fb101bc8224a710119a4190

Woman in Penang loses RM20,000 in Macau scam

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/06/15/woman-in-penang-loses-rm20000-in-macau-scam

Flourish logoInteractive content by Flourish

More than 1,000 Macau Scam cases have been brought to court this year

The sample of 71 news reports which The Star examined is just the tip of the iceberg when compared to the number of cases police receive.

On Nov 16, Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob said police recorded 5,218 Macau scam cases from January to October this year with losses amounting to RM256mil.

From the total cases recorded, the police managed to solve 2,676, with 1,420 cases charged in court.

Victims are mostly female and aged 51 and above

Comm Zainuddin said women make up the majority of victims with over 3,000 cases, adding that most of them were aged 51 and above.

The Star's analysis of cases reported in the media found the same victim profile trends. Flourish logoA Flourish data visualization

Here's Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador's advice to the public on how to avoid Macau scammers, specifically those who impersonate police personnel::

https://youtu.be/Yo04-aGjvgs

According to Abdul Hamid, we should not easily believe those who call us claiming to be policemen.

To verify that the caller is a policeman, he advised the public to insist on meeting with the caller at a police station.

He said the public should not reveal any details about their bank accounts to unknown callers.

There are many resources that provide advice on how to avoid becoming a scam victim, as well as timely alerts on the latest scammer tactics.

Among the most useful is the "Cyber Crime Alert Royal Malaysia Police" Facebook page of Bukit Aman's Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID).

The Facebook page can be accessed here..

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How to outsmart smartphone scammers ?

You carry your smartphone everywhere. But the way you use it could leave you vulnerable to specific forms of identity theft, including robocall scams and hackers looking to hijack your phone number. — AP

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

China launches 1st lunar sample return mission, aims for multiple breakthroughs in aerospace history

https://youtu.be/b9J64y3j54o

https://youtu.be/hpAkxslL0pc

https://youtu.be/waF2pzTGX4I

China launches Chang’e-5 mission via Long March-5 rocket to retrieve Moon rocks at Wenchang Space Launch Center from South China’s Hainan Province early Tuesday morning. Photo: Li Dike

The Long March-5 Y5, China's state-of-the-art carrier rocket and strongest member of the Long March launch vehicle family, blasted off early Tuesday morning from the Wenchang Space Launch Center located in South China's Hainan Province, successfully sending the Chang'e-5 lunar probe into planned orbit.

About 2,200 seconds after lift-off, the Chang'e-5 lunar probe separated from the rocket and entered the Earth-Moon transfer orbit with the perigee at 200 km and the apogee at about 410,000 km.

Despite the difficulties brought by the COVID-19 epidemic, China's aerospace sector has been able to launch not only the country's first-ever Tianwen-1 Mars probe, but also the latest lunar sample return mission, showcasing the country's resilience and increasingly mature capabilities in the space sphere, according to observers.

Dubbed one of the most complicated and challenging space exploration projects ever attempted, Chang'e-5 will carry out the third stage of China's current lunar programs, which involves three phases—orbiting, landing and return. The first two phases have been completed successfully.

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times that the highly complex, forward-looking technology applied in this project could be regarded as "an unmanned task that lays the foundation for future manned lunar missions."

"Analysis of the lunar samples shows that contents within the soil and rocks could be turned into water and oxygen, which will be useful in supporting the operation of the Moon base and serve as supplementary fuel for lunar landing vehicles," Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space expert, told the Global Times.

More importantly, scientists have found in the lunar samples the ideal material for nuclear fusion, and enough of it to meet human's energy needs for about 10,000 years, Pang added.

China's future Chang'e-6 mission will also automatically collect lunar samples for comprehensive analysis and research, and hopefully carry international payloads on board.

Chang'e-7 will comprehensively explore the moon, while Chang'e-8 will explore the possibility of building an international lunar research base, Global Times previously learned from CNSA. Chang'e-8 will also test 3D printer technology in the hopes of assisting future lunar residents.

"To build a research base on the Moon, we first need to figure out what it is made of, by analyzing the soil composition and geological structure, and then making use of the raw materials at hand on the Moon for our own exploration purposes," Song Zhongping, an aerospace observer and TV commentator, told the Global Times.

Infographic: GT

Perfect success rate

China launched its first lunar probe mission, Chang'e-1, in October 24, 2007 via a Long March 3A Y14 carrier rocket. In the 13 years since then, China has launched a total of five missions, all named after the lunar goddess Chang'e, with domestically developed Long March rockets, scoring a perfect success rate.

The 57-meter-long Long March-5, with a take-off weight of about 870 tons and a thrust of over 1,000 tons, is capable of launching a payload of up to 14 tons into the geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), making it the go-to rocket model for the mission, as the Chang'e-5 lunar probe weighs 8.2 tons, one of the heaviest probes that has ever been launched by China.

According to China Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), the Long March-5 rocket series will be deployed to launch core and experimental cabinets for the country's first-ever space station, and will be tasked with completing the construction of the space station in two to three years.

"Long March-5 is the only member of the Long March family that is capable of launching such a heavy payload into the lunar transfer orbit. And the mission in return examines the rocket's capabilities and showcases the strength of China's space sector," Li Minghua, the first commander-in-chief of the Long March-5 and Party chief of CALT, under the state-owned aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the rocket's developer, told the Global Times.

Breakthroughs to make

Infographic: GT

The Chang'e-5 probe is expected to carry out lunar sample collection, takeoff from the moon, rendezvous and docking on lunar orbit and high-speed reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, marking breakthroughs in China's aerospace history.

Sources close to the lunar probe mission told the Global Times that the Chang'e-5 probe is set to achieve four firsts in China's aerospace history.

It will conduct the first-ever robotic sample collecting on the lunar surface, spending two days on the Moon collecting around 2kg of lunar material.

After packaging the lunar material, the probe's lander will perform a highly complex take-off mission from the rough lunar terrain, overcoming the lack of a proper launch tower and other difficulties, which will also be a first.

A greater challenge lies in wait after the lander's lift-off, as the Chang'e-5 ascender will have to rendezvous and dock with the orbital module at the lunar orbit some 380,000 kilometers away from Earth, which has never been done before.

Finally, the return capsule carrying moon samples will then fly to Earth from 380,000 kilometers away at a speed of 11 kilometers per second, reaching second cosmic velocity.

Interestingly, based on what the sources revealed to the Global Times, designers with the China Academy of Space Technology under CASC have come up with a semi-ballistic reentry to help the high-speed spacecraft return to Earth safely.

Similar to the way a stone can skip over water, the return capsule will sprint into the atmosphere and then ascend again out of it, in order to reduce its flying speed to first cosmic velocity, which is around 8 kilometers per second, before landing safely at the designated site on Earth.

Wang Yanan explained that this measure will greatly reduce the risk of damaging the return capsule and will ensure the sample's safety.

When asked why it was decided that the Chang'e-5 probe would take off early in the morning rather than in the daytime, CALT insiders told the Global Times that early morning would make it easier to enter the trajectory designed for the complex mission.

Also, taking off in the early morning will help reduce interference from the Sun, as solar radiation will disrupt the transmission of electric signals, affecting the tracking and controlling of the spacecraft from ground personnel, they said.

There are also less clouds and stabler weather conditions in the early morning, which will also help signal transmission and scientists' observations, they revealed.

The Chang'e-5 is scheduled to touch down in an area that has never been visited either by probe or human, in a massive lava plain known as Oceanus Procellarum, or "Ocean of Storms" - a region in the Moon's northwest corner which is visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Scientists believe that the rocks and soil in the region are only 3.7 billion years old. Compared with the previous lunar samples brought back to Earth, it will help scientists to understand better the volcanic activities of the Moon. Some engineering factors were also taken into consideration in choosing this site.

The lunar material collected by the Chang'e-5 probe was formed from the space weathering of lunar rocks after meteorite impact, solar wind and cosmic ray radiation. It consists of a considerable amount of rock fragments, minerals and meteorites, which provide valuable information for studying the geological evolution of the moon, as well as solar activities, Xiao Long, a professor at the Wuhan-based China University of Geosciences, told the Global Times.

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union successfully carried out three robotic sample return missions that retrieved a total of 330 grams of lunar soil. The Chang'e-5 plans to bring back 2 kilograms in one single mission.

The gap in weight reflects how much the ability to retrieve lunar samples has advanced over the past decades, Pang Zhihao said.

He explained that back in the 1970s, the Soviet Union missions adopted a direct ascending and return plan from the lunar surface, which required the ascender to use large amounts of fuel to carry the huge load on the return capsule, resulting in the sample weight being greatly compressed.

The Chang'e-5, however, is expected to carry out rendezvous and docking with the orbital module in the lunar orbit, greatly reducing the amount of fuel needed for the ascender and allowing room for more samples.

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Watch China's journey to the moon and back in under

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Monday, November 23, 2020

RCEP shows Asia can act independently of US

Economic solidarity: Asia-Pacific leaders attending the fourth RCEP meeting as part of the 37th Asean Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, last week. — Reuters

Malaysia and other partner nations are looking forward to better days ahead after signing the world’s largest trade deal.

THE Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), eagerly awaited by 15 member nations and their 2.2 billion people, was finally signed last Sunday after eight years of negotiations and delays.

This regional free trade agreement has injected hope into the economies of member nations as they struggle to contain the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

The biggest trade deal in the world signed on Nov 15 during a virtual summit in Vietnam will, among others, allow participating countries to enjoy major tariff cuts.

Covering 30% of the global economy and global population, the RCEP will broaden and deepen economic linkages across the Asia Pacific region, ease trade in goods and services and facilitate the flow of investments.

The Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) believes that the RCEP could give “a significant boost” to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region.

“The provisions related to market access and disciplines in trade, services and e-commerce are highly relevant for regional value chains and market-seeking investment,” said the UN body in its special issue on investment trends last Sunday.

With China being a participating nation, others within the bloc will be able to gain easier access to China’s vast market of 1.4 billion people, including its 400-million strong middle-class income group.

And China, being the largest economy in Asia, will find it easier to export its capital to Asean and other RCEP nations after having faced political barriers in its investments in the West in recent years.

The RCEP comprises 10 Asean members (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand) and five others in the region – Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Indeed, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s remark after the signing could best summarise the importance and impact of the trade agreement.

He described the signing of the RCEP as a “major step forward for the world at a time when multilateralism is losing ground and global growth is slowing”, according to The Straits Times.

“It signals our collective commitment to maintaining open and connected supply chains, and to promoting freer trade and closer interdependence, especially in the face of Covid-19 when countries are turning inwards and are under protectionist pressures,” he added at the virtual conference hosted by Vietnam.

Premier Li Keqiang of China, which has been suffering from the US-led trade war, said the RCEP “is a victory of multilateralism and free trade” and “it let people choose unity and cooperation in the face of challenges, rather than conflict and confrontation.” In its analysis, Global Times said: “The conclusion of the RCEP indicates that most Asian countries endorse free trade framework and see it as a landmark step toward achieving closer economic integration in East Asia and South-East Asia.

“The RCEP sends out the message that Asian countries are not willing to blindly follow the US and exclude China from the region’s integration process. A sound and healthy economic community in Asia cannot be achieved without China’s participation.”

For China, the RCEP is the first multilateral free trade agreement it has ever participated in. China already has bilateral trade deals with many RCEP members, and it has been trying to seal an obstacle-filled trilateral pact with Japan and South Korea.

For Malaysia, the cheer is that the RCEP will provide greater access to regional markets and more opportunities for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to expand into foreign markets, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

The lowering of barriers and streamlining of rules in trade facilitation will boost Malaysia’s trade with RCEP countries and attract foreign firms keen on entering into a more integrated Asean, said the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

“This will enhance transparency in trade and investment, as well as facilitate the greater inclusion of Asean’s SMEs in global and regional supply chains,” said ACCCIM president Tan Sri Ter Leong Yap in a statement.

Wanita MCA national chairperson Datuk Heng Seai Kie said the RCEP provides “new hope for Malaysian entrepreneurs and national economic recovery to counter the current pandemic”.

“The RCEP trade deal will help stimulate the economy by integrating the various participating nations in the Asia-Pacific while introducing lowered tariffs, standardised customs rules and procedures and widened market access, especially among countries that don’t have trade deals,” she said in a statement.

Describing the free trade agreement as “an incredibly important agreement in terms of the timing”, Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said: “This agreement signifies that our region is still committed to openness and to trade and that we will use that as a platform and a springboard for recovery in the post-Covid era… Better access for our farmers and businesses means more jobs for Australians overall.”

Birmingham noted that Australian businesses in education, healthcare, accountancy, engineering and legal service industries would benefit most from the deal, which will allow them to open offices in RCEP countries.

Most importantly, the trade pact may facilitate Australia’s exports to China – its largest trading partner – if Australia tones down its two-year long hostility towards Beijing. Canberra’s ongoing spat with Beijing has hurt Australia’s economy deeply.

For Japanese exporters, the agreement means that China and South Korea will gradually eliminate tariffs on sake and shochu, according to Japan Times. The reduction from China’s current 40% tariff on both will fall to zero after 21 years, and South Korea’s 15% tariff on both goods now will be eliminated after 15 years.

The RCEP may help reduce the adverse impact of trade wars waged on any member country in the deal, according to prominent YouTuber Yang Fong.

“Once the RCEP comes into force in two years, the US cannot simply wage trade wars on China and other members. The deal will also bring major changes to supply-chains in China and the region,” said the economic analyst.

While all member nations are excited about RCEP, India left the negotiation table last year.

In November 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the pact would not benefit India’s core interest. Indian dairy farmers, as well as SMEs, are worried of losing out to China in the trade of manufactured goods, and to Australia and New Zealand on dairy products.

But despite this, the RCEP welcomes the return of India once it is ready to join.

To the Western world, the concern is that the world’s largest trade deal has left out the United States.

“Notably, the agreement excludes the US and can potentially allow China to cement its position as a key trade partner for South-East Asia and other countries,” CNBC said in its report.

The US Chamber of Commerce in Washington has expressed concern that the US is being left behind in the world’s largest free-trade bloc, reported Reuters.

However, the absence of US in the RECP could be easily explained. The world’s biggest economy was never a part of the trade pact from the very beginning.

The RCEP’s formation in 2012 is seen as an Asean response to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a US-led free trade agreement that excluded China – the world’s second largest economy and largest trading partner for most Asian countries.

At the beginning, TPP membership included the United States, Malaysia and several Asean countries, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico and Australia.

While setting up the RCEP, Asean invited China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to be partners in this free trade agreement.

For countries like Malaysia that believe in multi-lateralism, they can gain tremendously from having membership in both US-led TPP and Asean-led RCEP.

However, when Donald Trump became president, he rejected multilateralism and the Trump administration withdrew from the TPP in 2016.

Trump’s “America First” policy and the trade wars he has waged against China and others have also raised doubts about the US’ willingness to trade with Asian countries on mutually beneficial basis.

Without US participation, the West is worried that China will dominate RCEP and expand its influence in the region.

China’s state-linked Global Times is prompt to supply answers and address the concern.

Noting that major US allies (such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan) are part of the RCEP, Global Times said: “China cannot dominate the attitude of these countries or Asean as many major US allies are in the deal.”

In fact, Japan and Australia – which have enjoyed very close ties with the US – are likely to keep a close eye on China in the RCEP, while championing their own interests in the deal.

Global Times added: “If China is the so-called winner this time, then it is a win-win situation for all other RCEP members because these countries have strived for their own benefits during the past eight years of negotiations. All countries can only be winners since they have signed this agreement.”

Analysis by HO WAH FOON wahfoonho@thestar.com.my