Parcel Phone Scam Alert - POSB

Parcel Phone Scam Alert - POSB

Date: 1 June 2016
Threat Type: Phishing Calls

Description: A phishing campaign is targeting Singapore residents with automated phone calls. The calls start with an automated voice message in Mandarin, claiming to be a courier company and that their parcel had not been picked up. The call recipient is then directed to enter “0” or “9”. This connects them to a Mandarin-speaking person posing as a courier staff member who will claim that the parcel held contains prohibited items e.g. fake passports or weapons. The alleged staff member will request personal and/or bank information, or transfer the call to another person who will claim to be a customs or police officer. This person will in turn request personal and/or bank information or instruct the call recipient to remit money to an overseas bank account to avoid action from authorities.

Who might be at risk?
Customers with DBS accounts.

How can you protect yourself from this?

1. Be alert. Do not provide personal or bank information or remit money based on the advice of unsolicited callers.
2. Never give out any sensitive personal information (including login passwords or one-time passwords) over the phone or via email. Our staff will never ask you for such information.
3. Please inform our customer centre at 1800 111 1111 or +65 6327 2265 (when calling from overseas) immediately if you receive such calls or have disclosed your personal or bank information to unsolicited callers.
4. For more information on such scams, please visit http://www.scamalert.sg/scams/impersonation-scam.html

- wong chee tat :)

Office space prices up, but retail space prices soften slightly in Q3: URA

Office space prices up, but retail space prices soften slightly in Q3: URA

In the past three months, vacancy rates for office space declined, but the opposite was true for retail space, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said on Friday (Oct 24).

SINGAPORE: Prices of office space increased by 1.6 per cent in the third quarter of the year, while rental prices of office space rose 2.6 per cent in the same period, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday (Oct 24).

In the same period, the vacancy rate of office space fell to 8.4 per cent, compared to 9.6 per cent at the end of the second quarter. The URA said that this was in part due to a 47,000sqm decrease in the stock of office space in the third quarter, compared with a 1,000sqm decrease three months prior. It was the largest quarterly decline since 1992, according to consultancy Knight Frank.

Occupancy rate remained healthy at 91.6 per cent in the third quarter. The amount of occupied office space increased by 50,000sqm (nett) in the third quarter, compared to the 22,000sqm (nett) increase in the previous quarter, the URA said.

RETAIL PRICES DIP

Prices of retail space declined by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, following on a decline of 0.3 per cent in the previous three months. The increase of rental rates of retail space also slowed, rising by 0.1 per cent in the past three months, compared to the 0.6 per cent increase in the second quarter of the year.

The amount of occupied retail space increased by 15,000sqm (nett) in the third quarter, while the stock of retail space increased by 52,000sqm (nett) in the same period. As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of retail space rose to 6.5 per cent at the end of third quarter, up from 5.9 per cent as of end-June.

Knight Frank said the islandwide occupancy rate of 93.5 percent in the third quarter was the lowest since the first quarter of 2011.

Analysts said retail rents could face downward pressure next year. Chestertons’ managing director, Mr Donald Han, noted: "Moving into 2015, we expect rentals to come under pressure mainly because tenants are more worried about their bottomline, more concerned about overall operating cost and labour cost, and we expect margins to be affected.

“Retailers are probably unable to pay higher rents come renewal. We probably will see rentals correcting 1, 2 per cent, but those development that are in the Grade A, prime retail malls will probably not see too much reduction in terms of rental."

OFFICE RENTS

CBRE Research said the average rent for Grade A office buildings in Singapore is S$10.95 per square foot per month, which is still some way off its record high.

Mr Desmond Sim, head of research for Southeast Asia at CBRE Research, elaborated: “The previous peak was in 2008 and we are likely 9.3 per cent off that peak. In our forecast, we do not see rents start to match that peak. At that time, GDP was doing relatively well, 6 to 8 per cent.

“What we see now is that GDP is pretty much controlled. Demand from financial institutions is also very limited."

NON-FINANCIAL SECTORS TO DRIVE DEMAND FOR OFFICE SPACE

Looking ahead, analysts expect non-financial sectors to continue to drive demand for office space. But they said some banks may be looking for room to grow, especially if they see substantial growth in the wealth management and renminbi clearing business.

Office rents have already gone up by over 7 per cent in the first three quarters of this year. For the whole of 2014, office rents are likely to increase 10 per cent, and analysts expect a similar pace of growth in 2015, with most of the rental growth seen in the first half of next year.

Meanwhile, office supply will remain tight next year, before new buildings like Marina One are completed in 2016.

INDUSTRIAL SPACE SEGMENT MOST CHALLENGING

Analysts said the industrial space segment will probably be most challenging - when compared with retail and office. Latest numbers from JTC showed growing weakness in multiple-user factory space, with prices falling 1.8 per cent on-quarter in the third quarter.

Knight Frank said: "Going forward, price depreciation for factory space is likely to continue in the coming quarters with the high supply of both factory and warehouse spaces. Demand for strata-titled factory units is likely to be reduced in the short-term, with the market's general expectation of further price moderations in light of the cautious manufacturing sentiment.

“We view that the rents would continue its decline in the coming quarters well into early next year. While this trend would pose greater challenges for the landlords, this would potentially benefit SMEs (small and medium enterprises) who are eager to have find industrial space at more available locations."

- CNA/es/ms

- wong chee tat :)

Premium grade office rents surge 6.1% in Q3: Colliers

Premium grade office rents surge 6.1% in Q3: Colliers

The quarter-on-quarter increase was the highest in three years, and comes amid a continued shortage of office space in the central business district, the real estate services firm says.

SINGAPORE: Premium grade office rents in the Raffles Place/New Downtown area surged 6.1 per cent in the third quarter to S$11.67 psf per month amid a continued shortage of office space in the central business district, real estate services firm Colliers International said on Monday (Oct 13).

The 6.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase was the highest in three years, and was nearly double the 3.1 percent pace recorded in the second quarter.

Grade A office space in the Raffles Place/New Downtown area rose 2.9 per cent quarter on quarter to S$10.25 psf in July-September, while Grade A rents in the Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar area gained 2.9 per cent to S$8.83 psf.

Colliers defines premium-grade offices as those found in relatively new buildings with large floor plates of more than 20,000sqft as well as intelligent features. Examples of such buildings include Marina Bay Financial Centre and Asia Square.

Grade A offices, on the other hand, refer to those in good quality buildings in strategic locations that are well served by amenities and transport nodes, for example 6 Battery Road and Republic Plaza Tower 1.

Colliers said the rise in office rents comes amid a supply squeeze, with the average occupancy rates of most micro-markets having breached the technical full occupancy rate of 95 per cent.

For instance, as of September 2014, the average occupancy rate for Grade A space in Raffles Place/New Downtown and Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar stood at 97.2 per cent and 99.4 per cent, respectively.

- CNA/cy


- wong chee tat :)

word problem

A MS Office 2010 user encountered this problem with MS Word 2010:  Whenever using spell check function, MS Word will simply hang and becomes unresponsive. To end it, you have to kill the process from the task manager. It happens to any word document.

Check for the following:

- Launch winword /safe from run or from cmd and check.
- Check for any addins or plugins and disable it and check.

This should resolve the problem.

- wong chee tat :)

SingTel to boost mobile data speed in crowded locations

SingTel to boost mobile data speed in crowded locations
    POSTED: 10 Dec 2013 14:10

SingTel said faster mobile internet connection in crowded places is on the cards for its customers. To make that happen, it is rolling out small cell technology at some 20 sites -- including concert venues, malls, commercial and residential buildings.

SINGAPORE: SingTel said faster mobile internet connection in crowded places is on the cards for its customers. To make that happen, it is rolling out small cell technology at some 20 sites -- including concert venues, malls, commercial and residential buildings.

The telco said it is carrying out this work progressively and intends to complete it in three to four months.

Working hand-in-hand with small cell technology is a mobile network management solution called self-organising networks.

This software technology, which is already in place, allows slack network capacity in one area to be dynamically reallocated to ease demand elsewhere.

The telco said with both enhancements, mobile internet access for its subscribers should be up to 20 per cent faster at the 20 selected sites.

The chances of its customers getting a dropped call at these crowded locations should also reduce by as much as 40 per cent, it added.

- CNA/ac

- wong chee tat :)

Print to the Microsoft XPS Document Writer

Applies to Windows 7

The XPS Document Writer allows you to create .xps files using any program that you can print from in Windows. Print to the XPS Document Writer when you want to create, send, and share or publish documents that you do not want other people to modify, or when you want to print a document or display it online exactly as it appears on your screen. It's also a good idea to create an XPS document for files that contain graphics or illustrations that might otherwise display differently in print than online or on computers with different monitors.

XPS documents are easy to share because you can view them on any computer where an XPS viewer is installed, even if the computer doesn't have the same programs that you used to create the original documents. For more information about XPS documents, see XPS documents: frequently asked questions or go to the Microsoft XML Paper Specification website.

To print to the XPS Document Writer

1. Open the document or file that you want to print to .xps format, and then click Print. In most programs, the print option is available from the File menu.
2. In the Print dialog box, select Microsoft XPS Document Writer.
3. To view the document using the XPS Viewer after you print it, click Preferences, click the XPS Documents tab, make sure that the Automatically open XPS documents using the XPS viewer check box is selected, and then click OK.
4. Click Print to print the document or file.
5. When prompted, enter a file name and browse to the location where you want to save the .xps file. Click Save. Windows will save .xps files in your Documents folder by default.

After printing to the .xps file format, you can view an XPS document by browsing to it and opening it. You can print a paper copy, share the XPS document, or send it to a commercial printer or to other people in any way that you prefer.

Tip

• To help prevent security problems, you can attach a digital signature to an XPS document before you send or share it. The digital signature identifies the creator of the XPS document and helps warn anyone who views it if the document was modified after it was digitally signed. You can also determine who can view the document and for how long by applying permissions before sharing the document.

- wong chee tat :)

Banks moving towards mobile banking

Banks moving towards mobile banking
By Mike Firn | Posted: 01 March 2013 2243 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: Bankers and software designers are meeting in Singapore to discuss how to take advantage of smartphones and tablets to expand their business.

Banks are shifting investment, from brick and mortar branches packed with staff to slick IT solutions.

Singapore software company Tagit is tailoring solutions differently for emerging markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, and banks with established networks in developed countries like Japan and Australia.

Sandeep Bagaria, CEO of Tagit, explained: "If you think of emerging markets, the innovation is coming around 'how do I reach a large mass of people using the mobile application and then necessarily providing new innovative services?' In developed markets, it's 'how can I provide them with more facilities, more services than I would do before?'"

But analysts say the rise of internet and mobile banking does not mean high-street bank branches are going to disappear. They say it may even get better.

Ho Sui-Jon, IDC associate market analyst, said: "If I go to a branch I would expect to get an experience that I cannot get from an ATM or browser-based banking. So all these branches are being re-tailored towards what we call 'flagship branch models', where we are trying to augment experience-driven technology augmented features."

For customers used to sitting down with their local bank manager, the idea of putting an app on their mobile may not seem appealing.

Mr Bagaria assured consumers who fear losing their phones: "It's not that the mobile app gets activated just because the phone is there. I need to put in a token when I need to do a transaction so the security levels are similar. It doesn't matter that you've left your phone behind."

With research group IDC forecasting that users in Asia will own half the world's smartphones within three years, mobile banking is likely to be a core strategy of the region's lenders.

- CNA/xq

- wong chee tat :)

S'poreans turn to social media for travel & food products: report

S'poreans turn to social media for travel & food products: report
Posted: 05 December 2012 1107 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: A new report showed that social media is playing an increasing role in influencing Singaporean consumers' purchasing decisions, when it comes to food and travel.

The latest annual global Nielson Social Media Report showed that when it comes to choosing a restaurant (68 per cent) or a food and beverage product (67 per cent), more than two thirds of Singaporeans turn to social media websites or online reviews.

Nearly seven in 10 (67 per cent) also said they'd choose travel related products based on positive recommendations shared online.

The food, beverage, leisure and entertainment categories were also the most discussed products via social networking in Singapore, in the past year.

A third of Singaporeans post comments online about brands, at least once a week. And they're the most mobile compared to respondents from other countries.

Across the globe, Singapore has the highest usage of social media via mobile phone.

Seven in 10 consumers (70 per cent) here log on to social media via their mobile phone. The figure is 23 percentage points higher than the global average of 47 per cent.

Managing director of Nielsen for Singapore and Malaysia, Joan Koh, said: "With the increasing relevance and engagement levels of social media, we are now able to see a direct correlation between positive social media sentiment and actual intent to purchase products and services, especially for those operating in the food and beverage, travel and entertainment sectors.

"Social media represents a huge opportunity for brands to gain positive favour with consumers and savvy marketers can harness the growing influence of social media to impact business."

Compared to Singaporean consumers, those from the region said the top three categories where purchasing decision is most influenced by social media are - electronics (75 per cent), entertainment (74 per cent) and clothing (74 per cent).

- CNA/ck

- wong chee tat :)

German police stop man with mobile office in car

In this photo made available by the Saarland State Police in Germany on Friday Nov. 16, 2012, shows a vehicle with its interior wired up like a mobile office, that Saarland State police stopped on the autobahn near Saarbruecken Germany on Monday Nov. 12, 2012. Forget texting while driving. German police say they nabbed a driver who had wired his Ford station wagon with an entire mobile office. Saarland state police said Friday the 35-year-old man was pulled over for doing 130 km/h (81 mph) in a 100 km/h (62 mph) zone while passing a truck Monday. Built on a wooden frame on his passenger seat they found a laptop on a docking station tilted for easy driver access, a printer, router, wireless internet stick, WLAN antenna, and an inverter to power it all. A navigation system and cellphone mounted to the windshield completed the array. Since there wasn’t evidence he used the office while moving, he got away with a euro120 ($153) speeding ticket and possible fine for having unsecured items in his car. (AP Photo/Saarland State Police)

By Associated Press,
Last Updated: Friday, November 16, 2012

BERLIN -- 

(AP) — Forget texting while driving. German police say they nabbed a driver who had wired his Ford station wagon with an entire mobile office.
Saarland state police said Friday the 35-year-old man was pulled over for doing 130 kph (80 mph) in a 100 kph zone while passing a truck Monday.
Built on a wooden frame on his passenger seat they found a laptop on a docking station tilted for easy driver access, a printer, router, wireless internet stick, WLAN antenna, and an inverter to power it all.
A navigation system and cellphone mounted to the windshield completed the array.
Since there was no evidence he used the office while moving, he got away with a €120 ($153) speeding ticket and a possible fine for having unsecured items in his car.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.




 This guy is smart
- wong chee tat :)