CNA Explains: Are Android devices more prone to malware and how do you protect yourself from scams?
What other safety tips should I take note of?
Whether you are an Android or Apple user, the experts advised people to ensure that their device’s operating system, apps and security software are kept up to date, as updates often include security patches that protect against vulnerabilities.
Users should review hyperlinks from text messages or emails before clicking on them. Suspicious links could lead users to unofficial app stores where malicious apps can be downloaded, said Mr Lo.
He also advised people against writing down passwords on their phones’ note-taking apps as a security practice.
“This is a risky practice that could compromise their information,” added Mr Scheurmann.
A man who recently lost more than S$40,000 (US$29,600) in CPF savings to a malware scam told CNA that he suspects the scammer had accessed his passwords and other login details in a note-taking app on his phone.
Users may consider using password managers which are secure and encrypted tools that will store all their passwords in one place, said Mr Lo. “It generates strong, unique passwords for each account and automatically fills in passwords when users need to log in,” he added.
What should I do if my phone is affected by malware?
If your phone is affected by malware, experts recommend that you disconnect the device from the internet, either by turning off Wi-Fi and mobile data or by enabling airplane mode.
“This will prevent the malware from communicating with its command-and-control servers and further spreading or causing harm,” said Mr Wilcox.
Next, attempt to boot your device in safe mode to disable third-party apps temporarily. Go through your list of installed apps to identify if any of them could be suspicious or contain malware.
“Pay attention to apps with generic names, misspellings, or unauthorised app store icons,” said Mr Wilcox.
After uninstalling the suspicious apps, install mobile security software from a trusted source to do a final scan of any remaining malware viruses.
“As a last resort, reset factory settings. This should only be done if the malware is quite resilient, as this will affect all the device’s previously-stored data,” said Mr Scheurmann.
As your credentials could have been accessed by bad actors through malware, you should also reset your passwords.
Following a malware infection, you should take note of any warning signs of identity theft, such as any failed login attempt emails or missing mail, said Mr Scheurmann.
If there are any unknown activities or financial transactions, you should suspend your bank accounts as soon as possible.
Survivors to get state support
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered officials to offer immediately assistance to victims of the fireworks blast in Narathiwat, said deputy government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek on Sunday.
He also assured the survivors that they will get financial and psychological support from the state, she said.
The incident, which happened around 3pm on Saturday at a warehouse in tambon Muno, killed 12 people, injured 121 and damaged 292 houses. Fifty houses were destroyed.
Ms Rachada said the Narathiwat governor has set up a temporary shelter for victims at the sports field of the Muno Subdistrict Administrative Organisation. All victims have been offered emergency assistance, she said.
His Majesty the King has also sent survival kits and set up a canteen for victims at the shelter, the spokeswoman said.
“Gen Prayut has expressed his gratitude for His Majesty’s empathy,” Ms Rachada said.
Meanwhile, Lt Gen Santi Sakultanak, commander of the 4th Army, on Sunday ordered officials to inspect the safety standards at 52 fireworks warehouses across Narathiwat to prevent explosions.
He also ordered officers to do the same across Pattani and Yala.
Lt Gen Santi visited the shelter on Sunday to follow up on the survivors’ condition after the explosion.
There, he said he has assigned officers to investigate if the fireworks factory was operating with the required permits.
He said Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers will scan the site of the explosion to determine the quantity of fireworks stored in the warehouse.
It was believed at least 5 tonnes of fireworks had been kept at the site, judging from the two deep holes left at the site by the powerful blast, a source said. It is not known how old they were.
The factory was registered under the name Wirawat Panich.
Police have summoned the owner for questioning, but it remained unclear as of Sunday when he would come in, as he was on holiday with his family, a source said.
Narathiwat Police chief Pol Maj Gen Anurut Im-arb told the media that the owner may face several criminal charges, including negligence leading to death and importing or selling fireworks without a licence, under the Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Fireworks Act.
“Other potential charges include causing a fire which harms other properties, causes deaths and injuries, which is punishable by death,” Pol Maj Gen Anurut said.
Other charges may follow if authorities can prove the owner violated the 1992 Factory Act and the 1998 Labour Protection Act, he said.
Over 50 forensics officers are currently collecting samples and evidence from the scene.
Investigators from Muno police station are questioning residents for information about the moments leading up to the blast, he said.
Capital, Loei raids net gambling ring
PUBLISHED : 31 Jul 2023 at 04:30
Police raided four locations in Bangkok and Loei on Saturday, arresting three suspects for their alleged involvement in online gambling websites.
Pol Gen Roy Ingkapairote, deputy national police chief, said yesterday the ️Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) had arrested the suspects over their links to a number of gambling websites, including betfixroyal.com.
The suspects were identified by authorities only as Suchanan, Oranee and Natthawat.
Officers confiscated 100 bank passbooks, 55 ATM cards, 30 mobile phones, 920,000 baht in cash, electronic devices such as laptops and iPads and a white Toyota car worth one million baht, he said.
Pol Gen Roy said their gambling websites have over 50,000 users with more than one hundred million baht worth of cash flow.
All suspects have been charged with promoting gambling and colluding in money laundering.
Pol Gen Roy also said the suspects were also found to have been involved in online gambling scams in the North, prompting officers to press more charges in accordance with the Royal Decree on Cyber Crime Prevention and Suppression.
Police will notify the Anti-Money Laundering Office to impound the suspects’ assets for further investigation as they widen their probe.
Pol Gen Roy said the arrest followed the capture of Pongsiri Thanratchawongsuek, alias “Boss Than”, the chairman of the Lamphun Warriors Football Club, who is accused of running an illegal online gambling website TS911.com. He was arrested in Phayao on June 20.
An investigation showed his website was designed in a way that allows users to gambling online by scanning a QR code on the Line mobile app.
Pol Gen Roy said Mr Pongsiri’s site had 40,704 users and 7,017 followers on Line. Police also seized assets including his house, land and luxury cars worth about one billion baht.
Locals to spend B16.6bn during extended weekend
PUBLISHED : 31 Jul 2023 at 04:30
Almost 5 million Thais are travelling during the long weekend and will spend 16.6 billion baht at various holiday locations in the country, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
The extended holiday from Friday to Wednesday, made possible by a cabinet announcement last week designating today as a special holiday, is spurring great tourism spending, the TAT added.
The TAT predicts there will be 4.96 million trips with local tourists spending 16.6 billion baht during the holiday.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the average hotel occupancy rate is expected to be 63% during the period.
During the first two days of the long holiday, tourists made trips to destinations within a 200–300 kilometre radius of where they lived, he said.
“Negative factors continue to be inflation and fuel prices that remain high though it is tending to decline,” he said. “They are major obstacles to Thais spending.”
On Monday, the government suddenly announced a special holiday for today in a bid to stimulate domestic tourism. If the extended holiday period had been announced long before, people could have planned overseas trips to places like Japan as the yen is fairly weak, the TAT governor said.
In Chiang Mai, landmark tourist attractions, including the Tha Pae area in downtown Muang district, were packed with both Thai and foreign visitors.
Paisal Sukcharoen, president of the Thai Hotels Association, Northern Chapter, said the hotel occupancy rate during the long weekend has hit 80%. Half of the guests are foreigners, he said.
Tourism revenue in Chiang Mai earned from Thai visitors is estimated to be 120 million baht.
In Phuket, holiday tourism revenue is predicted to reach 2 billion baht as the island province is teeming with overseas visitors, mostly from Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Vietnam.
Lertchai Wangtrakuldee, director of TAT’s Phuket office, said the hotel occupancy rate during the holiday has surpassed 65%. More than 234,000 visitors, both foreign and Thai, have booked accommodation on the island during the holiday, he said.
MFP figure faces legal action threat
PUBLISHED : 31 Jul 2023 at 04:30
The Election Commission (EC) plans to take criminal and civil action against a Move Forward Party MP for running in the May 14 election despite having been previously convicted and jailed for theft, according to its chairman.
EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said yesterday the candidacy of Rayong MP Nakhonchai Khunnarong should have been barred by Section 98 of the constitution which sets criteria for those running for parliament. These include a ban on those who have a criminal conviction (with some exceptions).
If a candidate runs in a general election despite knowing he or she is ineligible, that can also be considered as committing an offence in violation of Section 151 of the MP election law.
He or she can be held responsible for any costs incurred during that time in accordance with Section 420 of the Civil and Commercial Code, Mr Ittiporn said.
He said the EC was aware of the MP’s announcement that he would resign by the end of this week. “There is the issue of a criminal offence under Section 151 of the organic law on MP elections and there could also be a civil lawsuit to demand compensation for the cost of a by-election,” Mr Ittiporn said.
Mr Nakhonchai, aka Ice Rayong, announced his resignation on Thursday last week after admitting he had been convicted in a theft case and served 18 months in jail 24 years ago.
The case dates back to October 1999 when he was 20 years old, he said. He was partying with a group of friends when he found a woman’s wristwatch on a table.
He took it to “examine” when the police showed up. He and his friend were arrested. His friend confessed to stealing the wristwatch but he denied it. At the police station, he said he unknowingly signed a confession.
He was sentenced to three years in jail, but the sentence was cut in half due to his confession.
The Royal Thai Consulate General in Kunming warns Thai women who want to marry Chinese men to study their future grooms’ background thoroughly
The Royal Thai Consulate General in Kunming is warning Thai women who want to marry Chinese men through matchmakers to study their future grooms’ background thoroughly before saying “yes”, as well as urging them to get the right type of visa and register their marriage with Thai authorities.
The suggestion was made during a discussion between journalists and the Thai consul general in Kunming, Bhavivarn Noraphallop, at a workshop titled “China in the New Era: What the Thai Media Should Know”, hosted by the Embassy of China to Thailand with the cooperation of the Thai Journalist Association in Kunming during July 24-27.
According to Ms Bhavivarn, border security and Thai expats’ welfare are among the issues prioritised by the consulate-general.
Since Yunnan is located next to Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam and not far from Thailand’s border, the consulate has had to deal with many border-related issues such as illegal immigration, overstays, and crime, Ms Bhavivarn said.
However, Ms Bhavivarn said the consulate office is particularly concerned about the increasing number of failed marriages between Thai women and Chinese men from the area, which she blamed on the lack of research and lofty expectations on the part of the Thai women.
“Many Thai women have some misconceptions about living in China. Many seem to think they will have a better life after getting married to a Chinese man, but in reality living in China may not be all they expect,” she said.
According to Ms Bhavivarn, many Chinese men end up marrying foreign brides because Beijing’s One Child policy, combined with the traditional preference of having a male heir to continue the family name, skewed the gender ratio so much that there are now more Chinese men than women.
These factors led to the boom in matchmaking businesses which specifically target Chinese men looking for Thai women, she said, before adding Thai women are popular among Chinese grooms-to-be due to their reputation as excellent homemakers.
The majority of Thai women who seek out the services of these matchmakers are mostly from the Northeast who are keen to use their beauty to improve their financial standing, she said, noting that many end up moving to southern China without conducting any research on the fiancé’s family and background.
Many of these brides don’t even speak Chinese or know anything about Chinese culture — and as a result, many end up dissatisfied with their new life in China and seek the help of the consulate to return to Thailand.
Others, meanwhile, are abused by their new families and/or forced to work long hours on their families’ farms.
Returning to Thailand isn’t as simple as they think, Ms Bhavivarn said, adding they need their spouses’ consent to leave the country, especially when children are involved. “Before saying yes, we urge Thais to better prepare for the move and lower their expectation, as living in China with their new spouses could be worse than living in Thailand,” said Ms Bhavivarn.
The consul-general also reminded Thais who are getting married to a foreigner not to surrender their travel documents to their spouses and get the right visa to ensure their rights are protected under Chinese laws. In addition, Thais should register their marriage with the nearest Royal Thai Embassy in case of emergency, said Ms Bhavivarn.
MFP loss linked to policy, poll says
PUBLISHED : 31 Jul 2023 at 04:30
NEWSPAPER SECTION: News
Most people think the MFP failed in its bid to form a government with leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister because of its insistence not to compromise on some of its policies, according to an opinion survey by Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted from July 24–26 via telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country.
Asked which mistakes led to the MFP’s failure, 42.98% said the MFP had refused to drop some of its policies in exchange for more support, while 27.56% said the MFP was defeated by political games in parliament. A total of 30.46% of respondents did not think the MFP made a mistake.
Asked whether protests would erupt if the MFP joined the opposition, 35.19% said there would be major but controllable rallies, 24.81% said there would be small rallies and 23.16% said there would be major rallies that could get out of control.
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