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Elderly in Thailand to Get Anti-Scam Education as Cybercrime Explodes

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Elderly in Thailand to Get Anti-Scam Education as Cybercrime Explodes

Alarmed by research indicating that the elderly are the most vulnerable to fraudsters, Thailand’s Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and CIB cybercrime investigators will collaborate with partners to provide digital literacy to senior people nationwide.

The minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, stated that more than 13 million people, or almost 20% of the Thai population, are above 60. Over the next 20 years, the elderly will account for 30% of the population. However, digital media literacy among the elderly remains low.

He referenced a recent study conducted by the Intelligence Centre for Senior Media Literacy (ICEML) at Mahidol University with the help of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), which discovered that more senior individuals fall prey to scammers.

About 70.53% were duped into revealing their personal information, while 22.40% chose to purchase low-quality products.

The ministry then collaborated with ThaiHealth, Mahidol University, and Tammapun Company to launch a media literacy programme for the elderly. Mr Varawut said the course would be administered at 2,456 elderly-specific schools.

According to Benjamaporn Limpisathian, a senior assistant manager at ThaiHealth, the curriculum will help improve media literacy skills for the elderly so they can use media securely and advocate for constructing an academic centre on media literacy for the old.

Assoc Prof Nuntiya Dounghummes, president of ICEML, stated that digital media literacy among the elderly is critical to preventing them from being victims of scammers in the future.

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Types of Cybercrime in Thailand

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has identified five types of cybercrime that have been common in the past year and warns people to avoid being duped online. The first concerns contact centre scammers, who they claim are always devising new ways to fool customers.

Some mimic state officials and use bogus phone numbers to intimidate victims. According to the CIB, some scammers send SMS with a link to lure victims into giving up access to their bank accounts.

Another example concerns online shopping scammers who put up phoney retail websites to defraud victims. Some businesses solicit customers to transfer money online for things they will never receive. According to the CIB, in some circumstances, the goods received by customers are counterfeit or of poor quality and do not correspond to what was represented.

A “hybrid method” fraud involves victims being drawn into a relationship with a scammer before being asked to invest their money in a bogus investment scheme. A CIB cybercrime investigator reported that victims are frequently cheated.

Romance scammers build phoney profiles on dating websites or contact victims through social media. Scammers form relationships with victims to earn their trust before fabricating claims and demanding money.

There are also job offer frauds targeting job seekers. Victims are frequently duped into handing over money and providing personal information. According to a cybercrime investigator, some scammers promise high-paying jobs but need victims to pay upfront fees.

cybercrime Thailand

Combating Cybercrime is Challenging

Victims are promised high-paying positions abroad but must first pay exorbitant fees. They are never, however, sent abroad as promised, according to the cybercrime investigator at CIB.

From March 1 of last year until December 20, more than 314,000 complaints were submitted to the police. There were 160,819 shopping scams, 50,536 job scams, 43,193 loan scams, 32,501 investment scams, and 27,620 contact centre scams.

According to Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) commissioner Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, internet scams are expected to be a significant trend this year as people increasingly rely on online technology for daily activities such as shopping and leisure.

Combating cybercrime is challenging because scammers utilize technology to perpetrate crimes and hide their tracks, said Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop.

He said that scammers employ new tools and tactics, such as SIM boxes and Voice over IP (VoIP), to carry out their criminal activities, complicating law enforcement efforts to combat cybercrime.

In addition, law enforcement organizations confront three additional problems in countering cybercrime.

First, internet scammers typically operate within Myanmar’s border areas, where the fighting between ethnic rebels and government troops makes it difficult for Thai officials to investigate them, he added. He warned that scammers will also find safe havens in armed group-controlled areas, such as Laukkaing in northern Myanmar.

Second, he claimed that online scams result from complex criminal networks. He stated they are comprised of transnational corporations, making it difficult for authorities to coordinate and locate their operations.

cybercrime Thailand

To Stay One Step Ahead of Criminals

Finally, he noted that legal and jurisdictional difficulties complicate matters. Because online scams have no borders, worldwide cooperation is necessary to prosecute these crooks.

Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop established the Anti-internet Scam Operation Centre (AOC) 1441 hotline to tackle internet scams. It proactively brings together banking, internet service providers, law enforcement, and telecom authorities to address public safety concerns.

He said the program aims to improve coordination, database management, and information sharing, adding that the police also leverage technology to expedite their work and combat cybercrime.

He stated that technology is important in managing complaints, obtaining intelligence, assessing criminal patterns, and connecting with other organizations, such as banks, internet service providers, and telecom carriers.

To stay one step ahead of criminals, police are attempting to establish networks and connections with law enforcement agencies to share knowledge, investigation tactics, and information regarding illegal activity.

He stated that the police must refresh their expertise through “unlearn, relearn, and reskill” to face the shifting problems posed by emerging dangers such as Bitcoin, the dark web, and deep fakes.

According to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop, changing organizational structures is critical to boosting law enforcement organizations’ efficacy in combating cybercrime.

As the CIB commissioner, he has been tasked by the prime minister to act as the AOC’s secretary-general and to convene a working group to collaborate with other agencies and establish effective ways for combating cybercrime.

“Because crime has crossed borders, it is important to strengthen regional and worldwide partnerships and coordination. Victims in Thailand can be targeted by criminals operating in other countries, and we require a strong ally to combat crime,” he said.

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Organized Workshops at Schools

He stated that the public may actively participate in the battle against cybercrime, saying that the CIB has used social media to warn people about online fraud, spot scams, and encourage them to report suspicious activity.

He noted that CIB mobile applications will be available soon.

While online scams remain a huge threat this year, violent crimes such as mass shootings are rising all across the world, raising considerable worries for authorities and the general public, he said.

Incidents like these are often unanticipated and have a terrible impact on communities. Therefore, the CIB has organized workshops at schools and private businesses to assist them in understanding the risks and devise a plan to deal with such events while remaining safe, he said.

The agency has also collaborated with the Police General Hospital to monitor the mental health of its employees and provide early diagnosis and treatment, which is critical given the stressful nature of their work, he said.

He said it has also cracked down on illegal weaponry, leading to confiscating weapons and arresting several suspects.

Nearly 60,000 Chinese Tourists Cancel Thailand Visit After Siam Paragon Mall Shooting

Unrest and Potential Violence

The shooting at the Siam Paragon shopping mall in October of last year was one of the worst days in recent violent crime history. A 14-year-old child is suspected of randomly shooting individuals, killing one Thai and two foreign nationals and injuring five others.

The incident occurred just after the first anniversary of a shooting in Nong Bua Lam Phu, in which a former police officer assaulted a nursery with a knife and gun, killing 24 children and 12 adults.

The Siam Paragon incident has resulted in tighter gun control measures, including a prohibition on the importation of guns and imitation firearms.

Concerning southern unrest and potential violence in the capital, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop stated that the RTP’s forward command has surveillance systems in place and monitors the activities of questionable individuals.

The CIB has directed units, including the Crime Suppression Division, Marine Police, and Highway Police, to work closely with local police.

Improving data collecting is one of the primary areas the CIB is working on to combat crime, according to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop, who envisions the CIB as a data-driven organization.

He stated that extensive and reliable data allows the CIB to better analyze trends and patterns, make plans, and deploy resources to address them efficiently.

Poor data collecting can result in insufficient or erroneous data, making it impossible for police to undertake effective data analytics, he explained, adding that the CIB has collaborated with the Thailand Institute of Justice to create a robust and comprehensive crime database.

He stated that the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes, produced by UNODC, provides a complete framework for producing criminal justice statistics and will be utilized as a model.

He stated that the CIB may use crime data to get useful insights and improve its crime prevention, suppression, and investigation efforts.

“Technology allows criminals to target people from anywhere, and new technologies make it more difficult to track them down.” The public should arm itself with knowledge. “It is the best and first line of defense against crime,” he explained.

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Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

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Trudeau's Gun Grab
Trudeau plans to purchase 2,063 firearm from legal gun owners in Canada - Rebel News Image

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.

The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.

This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.

The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.

In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.

Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened

“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.

Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.

Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.

In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.

An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.

Enforcement efforts Questioned

By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.

“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).

The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.

The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.

“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.

Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem

Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.

“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.

Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.

Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.

“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.

“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

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Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

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Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

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Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

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(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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