News & Reviews:   spam

Smartphones have pretty much taken over almost everything. It has become our wallets, cameras, and personal data hubs, an all-in-one device. But this also makes them prime targets for cyber threats, which we have seen the rise of scams and spam over the years, especially since the pandemic.

Not all is bleak, though. At the same time, modern devices are more secure than ever thanks to significant improvements in operating systems and hardware-level protections. It makes sense for personal computers to have an anti-virus program to help guard against malicious attacks, but what about smartphones? Do you actually need an anti-virus app on your phone?

X has revealed that it suspended around 800 million accounts within a 12-month period as part of a major effort to combat spam, bot activity and coordinated manipulation campaigns on the platform. The disclosure was made during a briefing with lawmakers in the United Kingdom, where the company discussed its ongoing battle against inauthentic activity.

In yet another trending scam post, Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) has publicly dismissed a social media message claiming that the government is offering a one-off RM500 Ramadan financial aid to citizens. The clarification came after a widely shared image and link circulated online that appeared to show the Prime Minister attached to the offer, suggesting recipients could check their eligibility through a website.

Maxis has announced a new strategic partnership with Globe Teleservices Pte. Ltd. (GTS), a global telecom solutions provider, to deploy an AI-powered firewall designed to secure messaging and voice traffic across its network in Malaysia. This end-to-end, fully managed service aims to enhance network security, improve service quality, and safeguard millions of Maxis subscribers from fraud and spam.

Malaysia recorded cybercrime losses exceeding RM1.22 billion between January and October 2024, according to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail. The staggering figure highlights the growing scale and sophistication of online threats — from financial scams and identity theft to data breaches and digital deception.

In Malaysia, it's common to get spam calls from unknown numbers pretending to be officials. If only there is something that can take care of that, right? Well, O2 by Virgin Media from the UK unveiled a new anti-fraud tool named Daisy.

In an effort to prevent increased scams and spam on YouTube Shorts, YouTube will be taking action soon to make links in Shorts comments, descriptions and live feeds unclickable. It will begin on 13 August 2023, to further prevent users from harmful content and malware. 

In case you didn't receive it, a few of us have gotten an SMS from our respective telcos. Starting on 2 July 2023, SMS containing links, requesting personal data and phone numbers will be blocked to prevent online fraud. 

From time to time, we would get scam messages and calls on our phones. While you could always install the Truecaller app, it doesn't work for WhatsApp which scammers tend to use nowadays. However, that could change in the future.

Today, Google announced that the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) will be expanded in Gmail. Introduced in 2021, this new update will now have a checkmark icon from senders to show verifications, just like the blue ticks from Facebook and Twitter.