JCN Newswire
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StraitsX announces native XSGD & XIDR on Polygon blockchain

ruth
3 minutes

SINGAPORE, Sep 16, 2022 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - StraitsX (www.straitsx.com), the leading infrastructure for digital assets in SE Asia, is delighted to announce XSGD & XIDR (Polygon) are now available natively on the StraitsX platform. StraitsX users are able to transfer and mint XSGD & XIDR (Polygon) directly from their StraitsX accounts, while XSGD & XIDR (Polygon) transferred to StraitsX accounts can be seamlessly converted back to SGD.StraitsX users are now able to transfer and mint XSGD & XIDR (Polygon) directly from their StraitsX accounts, while XSGD & XIDR (Polygon) transferred into StraitsX accounts can be seamlessly converted back to SGD.Polygon becomes StraitsX's third officially supported blockchain, after Ethereum and Zilliqa. XSGD & XIDR (Polygon) feature fast and efficient transactions, significantly more cost-effective than on the Ethereum network. A Layer 2 solution, Polygon runs decentralized applications (dApps) built for Ethereum, enabling developers to quickly scale dApps to run on faster, more efficient infrastructure and accelerate access to Web3, decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT markets.The Singapore dollar-denominated...

ACN Newswire
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Caely Holdings Bhd Working to Unfreeze Bank Accounts

indie
2 minutes

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 20, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Caely Holdings Bhd, a leading domestic producer of women's intimate apparel, takes note of the order to freeze all the Group's bank accounts and wishes to reassure all stakeholders that measures are being explored to ensure business continuity and sustainability.Caely Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Lim Chee PangCaely Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Lim Chee Pang said, "The unfreezing or partial unfreezing of the bank accounts are our top priority. We are exploring all avenues to resolve this issue, as we need to ensure that business operations can sustain.""We are answerable to our shareholders for how the business is run. The Board of Directors is monitoring the situation closely too and is working with the management on the unfreezing of the bank accounts.""We can confirm that we are in contact with the authorities and will extend whatever cooperation or assistance is needed for the matter to be resolved," Lim said.The management is at this juncture still assessing the impact from the order to freeze the bank accounts. "We are working on the next steps, which also include measur...

SeaPRwire
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41 people lost $203k in ‘Filmgo’ movie ticket buying scam

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - At least 41 individuals fell prey to a movie ticket buying scam and lost a total of $203,000 this month. The Singapore Police Force said on Thursday (Nov 25) that the scam was linked to companies with "Filmgo" in their name. Victims were invited to participate in a job commission scheme over messaging platforms such as MiChat and WeChat. Filmgo Production and Filmgo Digital were part of the scheme that tricked the victims into thinking they could earn a commission by buying and selling movie tickets. Those who fell victim were directed to create accounts on Filmgo websites, where they were asked to download mobile applications to use the service more conveniently. They would then be required to top up their accounts in order to fund the purchase of the movie tickets and to receive commission from ticket sales. Scammers provided the victims with bank accounts belonging to individuals of unknown identity for payments to be made. As their Filmgo accounts indicated that commissions could only be earned after completion of the job, the victims were convinced of the legitimate nature of their work. They realised they were scammed after trying and were unable to withdraw funds...

SeaPRwire

New variant of phishing scams emerges, bank victims lost $1m from Jan to May

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - A new variant of phishing scams using spoofed SMS messages to target bank customers has been making its rounds, say the police. It contributed to 374 reported cases involving losses totalling about $1.07 million between January and May this year. In a statement on Saturday (July 10), the police said victims of this latest scam variant would typically be informed that there were payment attempts detected from their bank accounts. Such messages would then urge victims to click on the link provided in the same message if they did not make the transactions. When victims click on the link, they would be led to a phishing website that resembles the official website of a bank, requesting their personal particulars, Internet banking details and one-time passwords (OTPs). "As the scammers had spoofed the bank's SMS accounts, the scammers' message might appear in the same SMS conversation thread as a bona fide SMS message from the bank," said the police. After providing the details, the victims subsequently realised that they had been scammed after receiving SMSes about money being transferred from their bank accounts, added the police. The police advised members of the public to...

SeaPRwire

Envy nickel trading boss alarmed some banks in Singapore long before his arrest

elean
6 minutes

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - The trader charged with orchestrating what police describe as one of Singapore's biggest suspected investment frauds began setting off alarm bells at banks more than a year before his arrest in February, according to people familiar with the matter. Ng Yu Zhi's unusually large cash transfers from his trading company to his personal account prompted Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp to file suspicious transaction reports to police as far back as 2019, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The bank shut his personal account in August 2020. Ng's corporate account at United Overseas Bank was closed more than a year before the 34-year-old was arrested, one of the people said. The previously unreported timeline raises fresh questions about how Ng could have maintained an alleged $1.46 billion fraud for so long. Even as OCBC and UOB cut ties with the trader, other banks including DBS Group Holdings and CIMB Group Holdings still had relationships with him at the time he was charged, people familiar with the matter said. Ng continued accepting money from wealthy Singaporeans until his arrest, enticing them with purported investment g...

SeaPRwire
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Linkhum Announces the Launch of Its Trading Platform Supporting a Wide Range of Financial Products

pandora
4 minutes

London, UK / SEAPRWire / July 08, 2021 / - Recently, Linkhum (https://linkhuminvestment.com) has announced the launch of its new platform, offering customers a wide range of financial products, including cryptocurrencies, energy, indices, stocks and more. The new platform supports 15 languages and offers 24 hours a day, 5 days a week service (English and Chinese customer service is 7X24 available). The company's official website has been localized into 15 languages, and the customer service spans 13 languages, of which 11 languages are available 24 hours a day, five days a week. English and Chinese customer services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At present, the company has a full license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), as well as an EU authorized representative license issued by the British Financial Conduct Market Authority (FCA), and a retail forex license issued by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA). And it is also a financial service provider authorized by the South African Financial Sector. Features of Linkhum's services Leverage & Account of Linkhum: To meet the investment needs of different investors, the comp...

SeaPRwire
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Linkhum Announces the Launching of Its Newest Financial Platform

pandora
4 minutes

SEAPRWire / June 18, 2021 -- Recently, Linkhum Investment Limited has announced the launching of its newest financial platform (https://linkhuminvestment.com), providing clients with a wide range of financial products, including currency pairs, metal encrypted digital currencies, energy, indices, and stocks. The company's official website has been localized into 15 languages, and the customer service spans 13 languages, of which 11 languages are available 24 hours a day, five days a week. English and Chinese customer services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At present, the company has a full license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), as well as an EU authorized representative license issued by the British Financial Conduct Market Authority (FCA), and a retail forex license issued by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA). And it is also a financial service provider authorized by the South African Financial Sector The company provides investors with a variety of financial instruments, including currency pairs, metals, encrypted digital currencies, energies, indices, and stocks. Leverage & Account of Linkhum To meet the investm...

SeaPRwire
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Resurgence of scam targeting bank customers who are told their accounts have been suspended: Police

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - A scam where customers receive an SMS message claiming that their bank accounts have been suspended has resurfaced here, the police said on Monday (April 26). These spoofed messages, which appear in the same thread as the official messages from local banks, would direct customers to call a phone number for assistance. Swindlers impersonating bank staff would answer the call and ask victims for their NRIC and credit card details. After providing their details, victims would discover that unauthorised transactions were made from their bank accounts. When they contact the bank's hotline, they would be told there are no security issues with their card. The police said that those who receive a suspicious message or call purporting to be from their bank should verify it by calling the hotline published on the bank's website and not the number provided in the SMS. The spoofed messages appear in the same thread as the official messages from local banks. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE They should also check the messages for grammatical errors, which is an indication of a scam. Police said the public should not disclose their banking details and one-time password to anyone. In Jan...

SeaPRwire

For Madoff victims, ‘tragedy goes on’ after scammer’s death

elean
5 minutes

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - Bernard Madoff's death in prison on Wednesday (April 14) doesn't change much for his victims, many of whom are still waiting to be made whole on their share of US$20 billion (S$26.7 billion) that vanished with the con man's 2008 arrest. The recovery effort, still underway in court more than a decade later, has been remarkably successful at recouping the lost principal, under the circumstances. But that's little comfort to investors who lost their life savings or otherwise had their lives turned upside down. And none of them will ever see a cent of the US$45 billion in fake trading profits Madoff assured them was safely tucked away in their accounts for retirement. "There are still people suffering vitally from what he did," Burt Meerow, an 82-year-old Vermont retiree who declined to disclose how much he lost, said in an interview about the king of the Ponzi scheme, also 82 when he died. "The tragedy goes on. He doesn't." Emotions still run high for Richard B. Shapiro, too. The 67-year-old real estate investor, who lost "in the seven figures" with Madoff and calls him a "psychopath," said he's never forgotten the shock of the news of Madoff's arrest. He rememb...

SeaPRwire
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$3b in top-ups to CPF accounts made last year by 140,000 members, up 40% from 2019

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Amid the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, 140,000 Central Provident Fund (CPF) members made account top-ups under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme. They put in a total of $3 billion in top-ups to their or their loved-ones' accounts, 40 per cent more than the amount of top-ups made in 2019, said the CPF Board on Wednesday (Feb 3). The Board added that $1.2 billion of top-ups were made in the fourth quarter of last year alone. The number of people topping up for the first time rose, especially among the younger set. More than one in three of those who made top-ups last year were first-timers, which is an increase of more than 50 per cent compared with the previous year, said the CPF Board in a media release. Among young people below 35 years old, there were 86 per cent more who topped up for the first time last year, compared with the previous year. This group saw the highest increase in first-timers. Compared with 2019, 27 per cent more people topped up their parents' CPF accounts last year. The Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme allows members to use cash or existing CPF savings to top up their own or their loved ones’ accounts. For recipients below t...

SeaPRwire
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China’s growing power scaring ordinary savers out of Hong Kong

elean
7 minutes

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - It was the freezing of bank accounts that changed Dan's mind. The Hongkonger, a finance worker in his early 50s, watched China tighten its grip on the city over the past few years with growing nervousness. Yet as a self-described apolitical person - he hadn't attended any of the protests that hit the city in 2019, for example - he wasn't really worried about being personally affected. Then last month, banks including British lender HSBC Holdings froze the account of former lawmaker Ted Hui after he went into exile in the UK with his family. A church that helped protesters also had its account suspended. "It's a game changer," Dan, who asked that only his first name be used because he is fearful of repercussions of speaking publicly, said. He's now in the process of moving about US$100,000 (S$132,800) - most of his savings - to an account in Canada, leaving only a small amount in Hong Kong to cover daily expenses. "Unusual in the breadth of potential offences" The Hong Kong police cited money laundering as the reason for requesting the accounts be frozen, putting into sharp focus just how vast the powers wielded by police could be in the wake of the sweeping ...

SeaPRwire
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Sea acquires Indonesian bank to gain fintech foothold

elean
2 minutes

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Singapore's Sea Ltd, the tech start-up that's become South-east Asia's most valuable company, has acquired Indonesia's Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi, according to people familiar with the matter. Sea has gained full control of the Jakarta-based lender, better known as Bank BKE, after buying stakes from existing shareholders Danadipa Artha Indonesia and Koin Investama Nusantara through its subsidiary Turbo Cash Hong Kong, said the people who asked not to be named as the matter is private. The move accelerates the company's ambition to establish itself as a leader in financial technology and services across its region, much as it has done with mobile gaming and online shopping. Sea raised almost US$3 billion (S$3.98 billion) in a stock offering last month, saying it intends to spend the proceeds on business expansion. Representatives of Sea and Bank BKE declined to comment. Bank BKE began operations in 1992 with the primary goal of supporting the welfare of civil servants, according to its website. South-east Asia's biggest internet companies are all vying for a share of a growing digital banking arena. Sea secured a licence to open a digital bank in Singapore in...

SeaPRwire
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Former CGS-CIMB broker jailed for manipulating Koyo shares

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - The Singapore court on Thursday (OCT 15) sentenced a former CGS-CIMB Securities employee to 20 months and 18 weeks' jail for her involvement in manipulating trading in the shares of Catalist-listed Koyo International between August 2014 and January 2016. Lau Wan Heng, 62, initially a broker and later a remisier at the brokerage firm, will begin her sentence on Oct 29. Lau was part of an alleged multi-member scheme that was said to have artificially pushed up the share price of Koyo - a provider of integrated mechanical and electrical engineering services - during the period. Alleged mastermind Lin Eng Jue, 43, was introduced to Lau by the Koyo CEO in January 2015, where he then asked for Lau's assistance in the scheme. Between February 2015 and October 2015, Lau approached nine of her clients at CGS-CIMB, and convinced them to allow her to use their trading accounts to trade Koyo shares, in which she performed trades from February that year till January 2016. She also convinced her brother and his wife to hand over three of their trading accounts for the same purpose, though her brother executed the trades directly. Those who provided their trading ...