Privacy Affairs / Data of Over 1.5 Billion Facebook Users Sold on Hacker Forum: “The private and personal information of over 1.5 billion Facebook users is being sold on a popular hacking-related forum, potentially enabling cybercriminals and unscrupulous advertisers to target Internet users globally.…Data Obtained by Scraping – The traders claim to have obtained the data by scraping rather than hacking or compromising individual users’ accounts. Scraping is a process of web data extraction or harvesting where publicly available data is accessed and organized into lists and databases. While technically, no accounts have been compromised, this is little solace to those whose data may now end up in the hands of unscrupulous internet marketers and likely also in the hands of cybercriminals. Unethical marketers may utilize this data to bombard specific individuals or groups of individuals with unsolicited advertising. The fact that phone numbers, real-life location, and users’ full names are included in the data is especially concerning. In addition, SMS and Push notification spam are becoming increasingly more prevalent even though most countries made these practices illegal many years ago…”
Police have uncovered one of Australia’s biggest money laundering syndicates which allegedly bought the identity of hundreds of foreign students on the dark web to wash cash and move tens of millions of dollars offshore.
Police will allege the ring laundered at least $62 million of criminal cash using the dormant bank accounts of 250 students who have returned to China after studying in Australia.
Foreign Students ‘money mules’: Police smash multi-million dollar money laundering ring
A top security official has warned that 90 per cent of Australia’s organised crime groups are operating with relative impunity, as police say employees of the Australian arm of Dubai’s government air services company have been used to infiltrate Sydney airport and smuggle drugs.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan said Operation Ironside – the recent organised-crime stingin partnership with the FBI that has been described as the most successful in policing history – had detected and deterred only 10 per cent of the nation’s organised crime groups.
Organised crime going undetected, says AFP, as Australian hits US ‘most wanted’ list
The sped-up culture that delivers that novel to your doorstep overnight is the same culture that deprives you of the time to read it” Sped Up Cold River
The trillion-dollar coin scheme, explained by the guy who invented it Vox
Why do people worry about deficits? Noah Smith
“Squid Game” has exploded globally, and the market value of the company behind it has soared by 120 billion! Why are Koreans the first to win the global audience? What China Reads
Why You Shouldn’t Speak When You Get a Robocall
Life Hacker – “Some scammers just want to hear the sound of your voice—and definitely not in a good way. Being asked “can you hear me?” by a caller might seem innocent enough, but even a one-word answer of “yes” could put you at risk of a scam. In rare cases, phone scammers can record your voice with the intent to impersonate you in order to make fraudulent purchases, but it’s more likely they’re simply confirming your phone number is active and can be used or sold for scams later. Either way, you should avoid affirmative responses to unfamiliar callers—or better yet, just let those calls go to voicemail. According to the FTC and Better Business Bureau (BBB), these scam calls have a familiar pattern: When you answer the phone, there might be some fumbling around on the other end of the line, and a person might say “I’m having trouble with my headset.” This is followed by a yes/no question like “can you hear me?” Even though this sounds like it’s coming from a real person, often these are robocalls playing pre-recorded messages. When you say yes, it lets the scammer know that your number is active and that you’re willing to answer calls (not to mention it’s also a pretty good, disarming tactic to keep you on the line). This allows the scammer to then sell your number to other telemarketers for a higher price…”
NEWS YOU CAN USE: RV Hacks: 400+ Ways to Make Life on the Road Easier, Safer, and More Fun!
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
This weekly post is a collection of links to recent articles, reports, podcasts, interviews, and notices of upcoming webinars, on political, economic and public policy issues, that may be of interest to Pearls and Irritations readers.