Your first line of defence, tracking scams: National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), 997 hotline, National Fraud Portal (NFP), emakMule portal

 

Boosting efficiency: A woman reading about the NFP, which is poised to greatly enhance the process of scam reporting and fund tracing. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The platform’s ability to centralise and standardise fraud reporting across play its part and stay vigilant against scammers, say police

Public must play its part and stay vigilant against scammers, say police

KUALA LUMPUR: Check before your click, say the police.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf has urged the public to use the SemakMule portal (https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/) before making any financial transaction online.

“Use the SemakMule portal to verify and check the list of mule bank accounts, phone numbers and shell companies used by scammers.

“The portal was established in 2020 to list phone numbers and mule bank accounts, but it has since been improved to (include) the names of shell companies,” he told The Star yesterday.

Comm Ramli said that so far, a total of 216,074 mule accounts have been listed on the site along with 178,006 phone numbers used by scammers.

“We also listed a total of 3,904 shell companies used by scammers,” he added. 

Some 27 million visitors have logged in to the portal since its inception, and about one million of the searches have been positive, meaning transactions made to mule accounts were prevented.

Comm Ramli hopes that the public would be able to fully utilise the improved SemakMule portal to prevent from getting scammed.

“We will never relent in our enforcement efforts against scam syndicates, but we hope the public can play its part by staying vigilant,” he said.

Comm Ramli said scammers are coming up with new modus operandi to dupe victims into giving them their money, including using generative artificial intelligence to produce fake videos, as well as audio and text messages.

“Scammers are resorting to new and innovative ways to dupe victims. We have encountered cases recently in which scammers used deepfake technology to mimic the voice of a victim’s friend to dupe them.

“Use the SemakMule portal to prevent being scammed. The public can also report any scam to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) by calling the 997 hotline,” he added.

According to Comm Ramli, other methods used by scammers include advertising dubious investment schemes on social media and phone scams, where scammers call up victims posing as officers from government agencies.

Meanwhile, on the establishment of the National Fraud Portal (NFP), Comm Ramli said it was a good anti-scam effort.

“We welcome the NFP, especially when it can further enhance the role of the NSRC in detecting scams faster, (enabling us) to help the victims.

“It will certainly boost the fight against scams,” he said.

Comm Ramli also hopes that financial institutions will be able to fully utilise the NFP, to enhance security measures.

“It (NFP) is a step in the right direction but at the same time, we urge banks and other financial institutions to upgrade their security, both internally and externally against any threat be it malware or ransomware.

“We also hope they will be able to better secure the data of their customers as well,” he said.

This year alone, over RM1.6bil in losses have been recorded from commercial crimes, including scams, Comm Ramli noted.

Source link 

Related stories: NFP to help tackle fraud and recover stolen funds Tracking scams made easy Imposters crying wolf preying on victims in M’sia, S’pore Seremban among districts with highest fraud cases Woman loses RM30,000 in phone scam involving bogus cops

China leads Paris Paralympic Games medal table, highlights efforts in protecting rights of people with disabilities

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/LKca1YBd8S8?si=2aLyE0Xg3-W8tvt2

Table tennis players Huang Wenjuan (left) and Jin Yucheng compete during the women's doubles - WD14 gold medal match at the Paris Paralympic Games on August 30, 2024. Photo: VCG

Paris 2024 Paralympic Medal Table

Medals

Sports results

Teams

Athletes

1. Team
   1 China	42	29	13	84
   2 Great Britain	28	14	10	52
   3 United States	12	18	10	40
   4 France	10	10	13	33
   40 Malaysia	1	0	1	2

With China leading the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics medal table and inspiring many netizens, the Games shed light on China's commitment to parasports and protection of the rights and well-beings of people with disabilities. 

As of 11 pm on Monday, the Chinese delegation has clinched a total of 38 gold, 28 sliver and 13 bronze medals, which tops both the gold and medal table at the Paris Paralympic Games held from August 28 to September 8. Until now, Chinese athletes have set several new world records.

The Paralympic Games have played an important role in raising society's awareness of and support for parasports, Luo Le, a sports scholar from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, told the Global Times.

According to a report published by Guangming Online, parasports is an important part of the cause of persons with disabilities and an important indicator of the results of economic and social development and the degree of progress in social civilization.

To ensure that persons with disabilities participate in extensive fitness-for-all activities, it is important to continuously improve the construction of a public service system for sports for persons with disabilities, the report noted.

In 2022, China issued its first white paper on parasports, elaborating on the country's people with disabilities participating in public sports and competitive sports, as well as the welfare and supportive systems in place.

Parasports are a mirror that reflects the living standard and human rights situation of 85 million people with disabilities in China. China ensures the disabled enjoy rights in economic, political, social and cultural fields, laying a solid foundation for people with disabilities to participate in sports and social life and achieve comprehensive development, according to the white paper. 

Based on China's current development, future enhancements in supporting sports for the disabled could include increasing financial investment, improving training facilities, offering more career development opportunities, and boosting the popularity and promotion of disabled sports programs, Luo said.

China has also promulgated a new law on building a barrier-free living environment in 2023 to make public venues more friendly for persons with disabilities. The law contains provisions regarding the construction of accessible facilities, accessible information exchanges and social services, guarantee measures, supervision and management, and liability.

Source link 

Related posts:

• 

  Entire doping ecosystem formed in US under government indulgence: investigation report

    While the US has ramped up efforts to discredit Chinese athletes with doping allegations, a media investigation report revealed on Saturda...

Mainland’s Paris Olympians to inspire HK, Macao

Chinese mainland Olympians who have accomplished historic sporting achievements at the Paris Olympic Games are set to visit ...

Why the Paris 2024 Paralympics still resonate with society today

There are over 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide, representing about 16 percent of the global population, ...

Mainland’s Paris Olympians warmly welcomed in HKSAR

The mainland’s Paris Olympians, who had achieved China’s best-ever performance at an overseas Olympic Games, were warmly welcomed ...

Early planning under Bill: Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

 PETALING JAYA: The proposed Mental Capacity Act will empower Malaysians to plan in advance on the management of their property and legal decisions before they become mentally incapacitated.

Mental capacity generally refers to the ability of a person to make autonomous decisions and includes understanding and reasoning of information, said Assoc Prof Dr Nora Mat Zin, a consultant psychiatrist at International Islamic University Malaysia’s Kuantan Campus.

“Mental capacity can be affected by many reasons such as intellectual ability, brain damage, physical and mental illness. Chronic mental illness may complicate the cognitive ability and impair the thinking process,” she said.

As such, she said the Mental Capacity Act provides significant advantages for mentally incapacitated individuals concerning their estate and will.

She said the proposed Act would provide clarity and a legal framework to assess one’s capacity if there is a dispute among family members regarding the ability of the person to make a will or manage their estate.

“The disagreement between the concerned parties would also be resolved as the Act provides a path to court protection,” she said.

Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan said unlike the Mental Health Act, where a court-appointed committee steps in only after someone is declared mentally incapacitated, the proposed Mental Capacity Act would allow individuals to take control while they still have the capacity to do so.

“With the proposed Act, people can appoint a trusted decision-maker through a power of attorney, ensuring their estate is managed exactly how they want it to be done,” he said.

On factors that need to be considered in drafting the Bill, Rajesh said the legislation should be laid out in plain language.

“It is crucial that anyone who needs to plan for their future can actually do so without having to interpret complex legal language,” he said.

ALSO READ: Psychological issues to be covered

He also emphasised on the need to ensure those entrusted with power are held accountable.

“There must be strong oversight mechanisms to prevent any misuse of power.

“The proposed Act should also allow for changes to be made based on differing circumstances.

“Finally, public awareness and education should be part and parcel of enactment of any legislation, especially a social legislation like this,” he added.

The Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) said a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) will be activated in the event a person becomes mentally incapacitated temporarily or permanently.

“This could be due to onset of dementia, Alzheimer’s or other illness affecting mental capacity. It could also be for a specific period after surgery or if treatment requires ventilation,” it said.

The person giving the LPA will be called the donor and the person appointed to be surrogate decision-maker is referred to as the “donee”.

According to AWL, the LPA would be lodged in the Registrar under the Court of Protection under the Mental Capacity Act.

This would be similar to what is currently done in Singapore and the United Kingdom.

AWL said the LPA allows for advance planning and thus will not compromise the affairs of the individual in the event of mental incapacity.

“Affairs here can refer to health, wealth and well-being.

“For children with impaired mental capability, their parents can plan for their future when they reach adulthood and are unable to plan for themselves,” it said.

“We must be reminded that the LPA is not just confined to persons with disability but also to everyone living in Malaysia who may face a period of mental incapacity.

“The challenge is that people may be unaware of the existence of the LPA and not understand its importance.”

As such, AWL is calling on the government to raise awareness.

“It is urgently needed to address the gap in our law, especially when Malaysia is reaching an ageing population status by 2030.”

Source link 

Related stories:

Psychological issues to be covered in new Bill