How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind by Clancy Martin is reviewed by Robin Abcarian at The Los Angeles Times.
I’ve Been Thinking by Daniel C. Dennett is reviewed by Stuart Jeffries at The Guardian
Free and Equal by Daniel Chandler is reviewed by Glyn Davis at Australian Book Review.
Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality by Dave Edmonds is reviewed by Johnny Lyons at the Dublin Review of Books.
FTC issues new report to Congress on frauds against older victims
- Investment frauds; tech support scams and business impersonation top the list
Tampa: Man extradited from Moldova and charged; sold computer passwords on the dark web; had at least 350,000
India undertakes national crackdown on tech support operations; raids 76 locations
India: Mumbai police raid call center defrauding Canadians by claiming they were law enforcement and need to keep victim money “safe;” five employees leap from top of one story building to escape and are injured; 17 arrested
FTC fraud studies. Over a period of several years Keith Anderson of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics did four several extensive consumer surveys looking at the nature and extent of consumer fraud in the US. They are really excellent, and though fraud has increased measurably since then – and some scams have increased while others have diminished -- these still hold important insights and relevant information. Here are links to them: August 2004; October 2007; April 2013; October 2019
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, fake check fraudand crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
- Canada: RCMP in Gander adds additional charges against Quebec man arrested for grandparent fraud
- Ireland a stronghold for Nigerian Black Axe gang
- Wisconsin: Man arrested for grandparent fraud
- UK: Two women arrested for calling impersonating police and seeking money
- Nigeria: The EFCC arrests 46 for internet fraud
- SEC gets court to order Ponzi scheme shut down that targeted Indian-Americans; took in $130 million
- Arizona: State police arrest two men for tech support fraud claiming to be Microsoft
- Singapore: Mule goes on trial for tech support fraud; got victim money and sent it on to India
- Georgia: Two get prison for timeshare resale fraud; claimed to have buyer and needed money from seller “for closing,” but no real buyer; took in $18 million
- Microsoft and Amazon join with law enforcement to battle tech support fraud
- Canadians reported losses of $161 million to investment frauds in the first six months of this year
- Tips on avoiding gift card fraud
- Man arrested with drugs in his pockets claims “these aren’t my shorts”
- Wanted Florida man tries to throw off police by posting large sign in his yards saying “Johnny Yates does not live here”
- FTC settles with crypto company Voyager over false claims that deposits were FDIC insured; company then folded; separately sued by CFTC
- Court rules for the FTC against company that violated Do Not Call Rule by making calls about vocational schools
- Committee sends three FTC Commissioner nominations to the full senate
- FTC and New Jersey AG resolve case against for profit Soller College over deceptive claims of relationships with potential employers; school to forgive $3.4 million in student loans
- CFPB resolves case against Sendwave, app used to send remittances, over deception in claims of cost and speed of money transfers
- Tennessee: Ten indicted for PPP fraud; got $950,000
- Nevada: Man gets 28 months prison for PPP fraud; got $500,000
- Chicago Inspector General says 1000 PPP loans went to City employees
- Florida: 17 deputy sheriff’s charged with PPP fraud; got $500,000
- Baton Rouge: Woman gets 33 months prison for PPP fraud; got $223,000
- Baltimore: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $734,000
- California: Man gets nearly six years for ID theft to get unemployment benefits; got $2.1 million
- Wisconsin: Man gets 18 months prison for PPP fraud; got $24,000
- Wisconsin: Jury convicts four men of both PPP and unemployment benefit fraud conspiracy
- Baltimore: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $18 million; used part of the money to buy property in Egypt
- Cincinnati: Man gets a year in prison for PPP fraud; filed applications while in jail
- Ransomware gang claims attack on St Louis transit agency
- Attack on state courts in Kansas
- International police effort shut down site of the Ragnar ransomware gang
- Hits TV advertising company Ampersand
- Spanish Airline Air Europa urges customers to cancel their credit cards after major hack of its systems
- Hacker steals millions of 23 and me genetic data profiles
- Nigeria: Man gets a year in prison for fake crypto investment website
- New York AG sues three crypto companies claiming investment fraud and losses over $1billion
- UK warns of romance scammers posing as celebrities
- Singapore: Woman arrested for romance fraud; at least ten victims; losses of $646,000
- Nigeria: Crypto trader convicted of crypto romance scam
- Nigeria: Man gets one year prison for romance fraud; pretended to be American female model
- East St Louis: Civil lawsuit against woman who was romance scam victim and kept acting as a money mule despite warning
Armed Services Editions exhibit
At the Grolier Club in New York they have an exhibit, The Best-Read Army in the World, focusing on the remarkable Armed Services Editions -- "123 million pocket-sized paperbacks" ! -- that were distributed to American troops during World War II, running from 27 September to 30 December.
See also the report in Fine Books & Collections, Did the US Have the Best-Read Army in World War II ? and Jennifer Schuessler's report in The New York Times, How the Humble Paperback Helped Win World War II (presumably paywalled).
And see the Armed Services Editions Collection at the Library of Congress.