TOPIC

Mobile messaging

Mobile messaging
From China’s most popular smartphone messaging app WeChat to Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, these services are changing the way people communicate with each other around the world.
Research has shown how SIM cards from the grey market are powering bot armies that fill social media with fake likes and comments to manipulate users and deliberately steer trends. Photo: dpa
Scams and swindles

How the global grey market in SIM cards powers fraud and influence

How much does an army of bots cost? A new study reveals how likes and clout are bought.

Malaysia

Malaysia assures users their privacy is protected in mobile data grab

Hong Kong society

SF Express Hong Kong stops sending parcel delivery SMS texts to combat scams

Crime in Hong Kong

Hongkonger arrested over SMS scam using device to show official ‘#’ sign

Police record 28 complaints from alleged victims who received messages purporting to be from government, delivery firms and others.

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The Office of the Communications Authority is investigating the cases, confirming that the messages were fraudulent. Photo: Edmond So
Crime in Hong Kong

Scammers may be sending SMS messages with ‘#’ sign, Hong Kong agency warns

Criminals may be using illegal radio jammers to send out text messages prefixed with a hashtag, a symbol only available to registered firms.

China technology

How will new SMS partnership add to BeiDou’s Chinese user base?

China Telecom working with phone manufacturers to enable its 423 million mobile users to connect via satellites.

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Blockchain

TON blockchain on Telegram teams with HashKey to help Asian users trade crypto

HashKey will facilitate the sale and purchase of Toncoin, the native token of the TON blockchain, which was started by Telegram Messenger.

The TON blockchain was started by Telegram but later abandoned after regulatory challenges before a separate group took up its development. It is now pushing adoption through Telegram mini apps. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong

Editorial | Hong Kong hashtag fight against scams needs support

Vigilance of city public essential as the latest offensive against cybercrime and phishing gets under way.

Crime in Hong Kong

Text messages by 23 Hong Kong mobile service providers to carry ‘#’ prefix

Office of the Communications Authority says first round of networks will be able to register numbers with watchdog and get hashtag to verify sender identities.

Crime in Hong Kong

Data of 900 Hongkongers exposed in hack attack of WhatsApp accounts

Hackers hit five social services and schools, compromising details, including names and mobile phone numbers of users, parents and pupils.

The city’s privacy commissioner has warned of a large-scale WhatsApp hack involving schools and social services’ accounts. Photo: Shutterstock
Crime in Hong Kong

Fresh crackdown on mobile phone fraudsters targeting Hong Kong announced

Anti-fraud voice and message alerts to warn call recipients about potential scams to be added to all numbers prefixed with ‘+852’.

A new crackdown on phone fraud has been announced by communications watchdog. Photo: Shutterstock
Just Saying

Video | Your mobile phone is killing me

South Korea

South Korea’s KakaoTalk outage a ‘wake-up call’ to regulate online services

After a data centre fire caused an hours-long shutdown of nearly all online services by Kakao Corp, including KakaoTalk that is used by 53 million people worldwide, President Yoon Suk-yeol has hinted at introducing regulations for such online platforms.

Singapore

Singaporeans must be wary of rising foreign influence efforts, PM Lee warns

Singaporeans need to guard against influence operations regardless of their source to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and independence, PM Lee Hsien Loong says.

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Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong. File photo: EPA-EFE
China Mobile

China Mobile ends iMessage-like service after missing WeChat revolution

China Mobile announced that it would stop providing service for Feixin by the end of September, ending a once-dominant SMS alternative that quickly lost ground to Tencent’s WeChat.

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A sign of China Mobile seen on a street in Shanghai on January 4, 2022. Photo: Reuters
Scams and swindles

Hongkongers lost billions to phone, online scams in first 4 months of year

Nearly one-fourth of money victims lost was swindled through email fraud, while phone scammers pocketed HK$280 million.

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WeChat

WeChat uses pop-up alert to contest rumours about blocking Shanghai lockdown posts

Sharing screenshots of posts making the accusation that the app is separating Shanghai users will now prompt a pop-up notification from WeChat dismissing the claims.

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Technology

BlackBerry mobile phone devices become obsolete

BlackBerry once had widespread commercial success but now reaches the end of its life and the end of an era as company pulls the plug.

Many models of the BlackBerry devices will no longer work. Photo: AFP
Aung San Suu Kyi

Opinion | Dangerous data: Telenor’s Myanmar exit may put customers’ lives at risk

Data of 18 million people, including call-data records, part of sale five months after military coup; means possibility of detention, torture, murder.

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5G

China’s mobile carriers to launch new 5G messaging service

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom are expected to roll out their new 5G messaging service, with electronic payment function, this month.

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Ireland

Ireland fines WhatsApp US$267 million for breaching EU privacy laws

The fine on Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service is the largest penalty issued to a company by the Irish data protection commission.

WhatsApp said it would appeal the decision. Photo: Reuters
Censorship in China

China declares war on ‘fake news’ in blow to social media

The new internet content crackdown targets “illegal news activities”, putting pressure on social media platforms to weed out unregulated content creators.

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Icons of popular social media apps WeChat and Weibo seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken December 5, 2013. A new clean-up campaign targeting content deemed ‘fake news’ is expected to put additional pressure on social media platforms that have become popular with citizen journalists. Photo: Reuters
India

As divide grows between Modi and tech firms, is India ‘going the China way’?

The government is seeking tighter control of digital media amid a wave of discontent over India’s Covid-19 pandemic response and other policies.

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Apps

Encrypted messenger Signal is banned in China, joining WhatsApp and Telegram

Before it was blocked, Signal stood as the last major foreign messaging app that was still accessible in mainland China without a virtual private network connection.

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Xiaomi

Xiaomi messaging app gets audio-focused makeover after Clubhouse ban

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi overhauled its defunct messaging app MiTalk and turned it into an invite-only audio chat platform for professionals, vying with other similar apps to fill the void left by Clubhouse’s ban in the country.

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After MiTalk lost out to Tencent’s WeChat a decade ago, Xiaomi is overhauling its messaging app with a focus on audio chat, similar to Clubhouse. Photo: Shutterstock
Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Letters | Learn from Singapore to ease privacy concerns over Covid app

The Singapore government set clear boundaries over the use of TraceTogether data, and the app itself does not collect GPS or mobile network information. Signal also offers a lesson in openness, which Hong Kong should take to hear.

A diner scans the required QR code using Hong Kong’s Leave Home Safe app before entering a restaurant in Wan Chai on February 18. Photo: Sam Tsang
WhatsApp

Hong Kong privacy watchdog urges WhatsApp to pump brakes on policy changes

WhatsApp has informed its more than 2 billion users that they will need to agree to a new policy allowing it to share data with its parent company, Facebook.

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Tencent

Tencent hires former US congressman and national security hawk as lobbyist

The Chinese tech company owns WeChat, which is facing a possible ban in the US.

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