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Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Australian woman, romance scam victim, nears trial for acting as a drug mule



But our chief storytellers are not novelists. They’re PR hacks and lobbyists. As evangelists of hardline, anti-social economic theory, they spin yarns of self-interest for oligarchs.

The think tanks funded by these billionaires, and the lobby-mills they employ, are how vested interests enthral our policymakers and achieve state capture.

 

Their darkest success has been the obstruction of positive action on climate and environmental law.

For nearly 40 years, the fable they’ve spun, the tale that’s managed to set the agenda for all of us, has been a noxious myth fixated on the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Their story urges us to pursue lives of endless consumption and pitiless competition powered by the fuels that are killing the world.

This fable promises liberty and happiness for all. But it’s a false promise – and a cruel one.

Tim Winton: Australia’s challenges are mounting, but the risk is too high to not tackle them 


Will you look at us by the river! The whole restless mob of us on spread blankets in the dreamy briny sunshine skylarking and chiacking about for one day, one clear, clean, sweet day in a good world in the midst of our living. Yachts run before an unfelt gust with bagnecked pelicans riding above them, the city their twitching backdrop, all blocks and points of mirror light down to the water's edge.
Tim Winton

Life was something you didn't argue with, because when it came down to it, whether you barracked for God or nothing at all, life was all there was. And death.

Cloudstreet inside the Western Lucky 🍀 Country


Ningaloo Nyinggulu : ABC iview


HOW PEOPLE CAN USE YOUR PHONE TO TRACK YOU. WITH BONUS ON HOW TO TURN IT OFF IF YOU HAVE AN ANDROID:  The Global Surveillance Free-for-All in Mobile Ad Data.


BOMBSHELL: Iranian Hackers Broke Into State’s Voter Roll Database – Used Names, SS and Driver’s License #’s to Fill Out UOCAVA Registrations – Shared Video of Their Actions Online!


FTC releases annual report to Congress on scams and older victims

  • Seniors less likely to be victims but lose more money
  • But five times more likely to be victims of tech support fraud
  • Three times more likely to be subject to lottery/prize frauds
  • Lose more through bank to bank transfers and crypto
Peruvian man gets 98 months prison; ran call centers there that called US Spanish speakers and threatened to arrest or deport them unless they paid for products they had not received; 1100 victims, who paid $700,000

 
Scam losses in Australia totaled $2.74 billion last year; top scams were investments (crypto romance), romance fraud; tech support, phishing, and payment redirection (business email compromise)
 

Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraudromance fraud; BEC fraudsweepstakes/lottery fraud,  tech support fraudromance fraud money mulescrooked movers, government impostersonline vehicle sale scamsrental fraud, gift cards,  free trial offer frauds,  job scams,  online shopping fraud,  fake check fraud and crypto scams
 
Fraud News Around the world
Alabama: Man arrested for hacking the SEC’s Twitter account
Australia issues new alert about bank impersonation scams
Singapore police investigating 292 scammers and money mules in two week operation
Tennessee: Canadian woman arrested for grandparent fraud after she went to victim’s home to pick up money
Global Anti-Scam Alliance releases survey of fraud in Asia; estimates losses at $688 billion
India busts operation selling vitamin pills on Amazon that were really filled with starch
Maryland: Police nab man (Chinese?) who went to vicitim’s home to pick up gold bars; caller had claimed to be with FTC IG and that victim was an ID theft victim
Nigeria: Ten convicted of internet fraud
Meta shuts down 1600 Facebook groups being used by Nigerian Yahoo boys
India busts tech support call center, arrest 12
Scotland to vastly strengthen consumer protection laws   
New York county indicts man (Chinese?) for bank impersonation fraud; sent courier to victim home to pick up money
New York state police detective indicted for buying credit card information on the dark web and doing video on how to use them
BBC: Meta to introduce facial recognition to fight scams using photos of celebrities
India introduces system to block robocalls that are showing local number on Caller ID
UK: Action Fraud reports 33,000 have reported having their online accounts hacked in the last year
EU issues report on the ecosystem of counterfeit goods

Humor FTC and CFPBVirus Benefit Theft Kidnapping and forced to scamBusiness Email compromise fraud Ransomware and data breachesATM SkimmingJamaica and Lottery FraudRomance Fraud and Sextortion