Fake news on Rockwills

I was jolted out of bed three days ago when I saw this image appearing in one of my social media chatgroups. Huh? I thought to myself. What's happening there? This image was supposedly a page from The Edge newspaper's CEO Morning Brief. It looked quite legitimate. No doubt, people looking at it would believe that it was real. 

Except, it wasn't. Someone had created a fake image to make it look like a real exposé by The Edge. Obviously, this is someone or some organisation with malicious intent. Business rivalry? Jealousy? Unhappiness with the leading estate planning company in the country? Diversion of attention? Who knows? But this someone did not stop with just The Edge. He had created similar fake images to fool people that Sin Chew Daily, China Press and Utusan Malaysia had published similar content too. 

Fortunately, the ploy to discredit the Rockwills Group was seen through rather quickly because it was quickly pointed out that the CEO Morning Brief is never printed on a Monday. And yet this one was dated as "MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022".

What happened next was the Rockwills Group quickly released a Press Statement to deny the allegations in the fake story. Rockwills also reported the fake news to the Police and MCMC urging them for a quick investigation and bring the culprits to book. At the same time as all these were taking place, The Edge, Sin Chew Daily and China Press announced in their respective media that the images that carried their mastheads were fake. 

On their facebook page, Rockwills posted these messages:

Recent news about Rockwills selling clients' data on various publications is not true. We have reported to police and MCMC, and relevant media has confirmed their name and corporate logo have been misused by a third party in spreading the FAKE news.

Rockwills would like to reiterate that it subscribes fully to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 and has invested heavily in protecting the sensitive personal information of its customers. This remains and continues to be our top priority.

近期，有些报道关于乐委集团出售客户数据的文章属于不实与假新闻。我们已向警方和马来西亚通讯及多媒体委员会（MCMC）举报此事件。同时，相关媒体已确认其名称和公司标识已被第三方恶意滥用以传播假新闻。

乐委集团在此声明，我们一向以来完全遵守 2010 年《个人数据保护法》，并已注下重资以确保每个客户们的个人隐私资料受到严善的保障，并为此持续看待为主要优先事项。

The denials by The Edge, Sin Chew Daily and China Press that they had ever printed such stories have since appeared here (The Edge), here (Sin Chew Daily) and here (China Press). For good measure, I'd also like to present two videos that Rockwills had prepared in the last few days to address this matter:

Americans rushing to write wills

From the Daily Mail's online portal in the United Kingdom comes this story about Americans rushing to write their wills.

The story quotes online will company Gentreo saying that they had a 143% increase in business, week on week; Trust & Will saying that they have seen a 50% rise in uptake; and that 40 percent of Americans have their. wills. "People are getting a little scared," one expert in estate planning said Wednesday. One of those who has made a will in recent days said she "wanted to be prepared."

How about you: are you prepared too? Here's the Daily Mail story:

Americans are rushing to make online wills with some companies reporting a 143 per cent uptake in business amid the rising death toll as a result of coronavirus. 

A total of 823 people have died in the United States from the disease as of Wednesday. There are more than 60,000 confirmed cases. 

Online will company Gentreo told CNBC they have seen a 143 per cent week on week increase in business; Trust & Will has seen a 50 per cent rise. Around 40 per cent of Americans are thought to currently have wills place. 

New figures released on Wednesday show that New York, which is the epicenter of the US outbreak, now has 50 percent of the country's total confirmed coronavirus cases.

There are now more than 30,800 confirmed cases in New York and more than 17,800 in New York City alone. There are 285 deaths in New York, including 192 in the city.

Washington state, which was initially the epicenter following an outbreak at a Seattle nursing home, now has 2,472 confirmed cases and 125 deaths.

California is reporting 2,675 cases and 59 deaths, including the first child after a 17-year-old boy with no known pre-existing conditions died.

Texas has 1,150 cases and 14 deaths, while Florida is reporting 1,682 cases and 23 fatalities.

Attorney Alain Roman, who helps with estate planning, told Barrons: 'Seeing in the news that so many people are passing away worldwide and here in the U.S., people are getting a little scared.

'It’s getting them thinking about having a plan in place in case something happens to them.'

American Morgan Hopkins told CNBC she is 'willing to think about the worst case scenario' and 'wanted to be prepared' after getting an online will. 

She added: 'I started seeing stories of young people who are in otherwise perfectly good health in the hospital or in critical condition with the coronavirus.' 

But experts have warned those signing wills online to be wary of their legality. 

Leslie Tayne, founder of Tayne Law Group said the will will be valid if it 'meets all of the legal requirements of your state'.

Tayne added: 'However, since the vast majority of DIY wills are created and executed without any oversight from an attorney, a larger number of wills (may not be) executed in compliance with the proper will formalities, and that could end up making the will invalid.'

The US remains third behind China and Italy with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases.

The infection has killed nearly 20,000 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China in December.

The World Health Organization this week revealed a grim outlook for the United States, saying that the country could quickly become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic given the 'very large acceleration' of confirmed infections.

Armed military personnel and NYC Medical Examiner's Office set up white tents and refrigeration trucks outside the hospital as health officials warned the city's morgues were nearing capacity.