Yes, the internet was always intended to spy on us

Finland is testing new ways to teach students about fake news. Media literacy is part of the national core curriculum starting in preschool. Here’s what other countries can learn from its success.

Capsule Summaries of all Twitter Files Threads to Date, With Links and a Glossary Matt Taibbi, TK News. Well worth a read.

Twitter files prove government was ‘in the censorship business in a huge way’: Matt Taibbi(video) FOX

Yes, the internet was always intended to spy on us. Yasha Levine. Taibbi owns the Twitter story, but Levine (and Ames) were there first

GODORT: “Throughout the year government information specialists share document mentioned in the news. One of these individuals is Ben Amata who shares many articles and whose submissions make up the majority of these. This years submission come from Ben Amata, David Durant, Patrice McDermott, Albert Chapman, Vicki Tate, Ronnie Joiner, and Toby Green. 

Andrew Dudash, librarian at Penn State University Libraries has been working on a project to capture federal documents in the news. This great collection includes stories from previous years and is a great resource. Raik Zaghloul at Schaffer Library Union College has a great guide just focused on the January 6th investigations. There are 100 stories listed but these are only a sample of documents that made the news. Of these there are 33 that are just related to the investigation of documents at Mar-a-Lago and those are in a separate section to the right.”

Review and recommendation/Courtroom Drama of the week:  My Cousin Vinny, starring Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei.  Possibly the funniest legal movie ever made.   It has plenty of lines that continue to resonate (Two utes?)   

 
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud,  tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards,  free trial offer frauds,  job scams,  online shopping fraud, and crypto scams
 
Fraud News Around the world

• Toronto police arrest man for armed robbery and find materials for black money scam
• Nigeria: Police arrest four Yahoo boys who kidnapped man who stole part of victim money in dispute over fraud proceeds
• Cambodia shuts down large factory making counterfeit body lotion
• Phoenix:Man gets probation after conviction for selling counterfeit N95 masks
• Black Axe gang recruiting IT professional in Ireland as money mules
• New York state passes new law requiring retailers selling gift cards to post warnings
• 73 year old woman sets up grandparent scammer and gets him arrested
• How to know if someone has hacked your cell phone

Humor 

• Woman arrested for burglary tells police that they called 911 for help in moving stolen goods from home
• Man arrested after unprovoked attack on inflatable Santa
• Man arrested after dropping poop into mail slot of State Police

FTC and CFPB  

• CFPB and New York AG sue auto lender; allege it mades loans it knew were unlikely to be repaid; company lent $4.9 billion in 2020

Virus Benefit Theft

• Oklahoma: Three years prison for Florida man who used identity theft to get unemployment benefits

Business Email compromise fraud 

• Man extradited from the UK to Ireland for laundering BEC funds

Ransomware  

• Attack on Louisiana hospital
• Hits telecom giant Intrado
• Shuts down milling operation at Canadian mining firm
• Attack on the Port of Lisbon
• Ransomware group gives decryptor to Toronto hospital for sick children Attack on Iowa Public Radio
• Hits US rail and locomotive giant Wabtec

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

• Class action filed against Gemini, owned by Winkelvoss twins; claim firm owes $900 million; ready to collapse?
• SEC sues CoinDeal, supposedly new blockchain technology, that took in $45 million