The Lucrative World of Literary Scams.

  

Online Privacy for Parents and Youth

EFF – Surveillance/Self Defense Guide: “Deciding how to help youth use the internet—including engaging with video games, social media, web search, and everything else—is a complicated topic that touches on many different skillsets and ideas. But ultimately, it is up to families to decide when and how to engage with these sorts of questions.  

Each young person has unique needs, and, just like their wardrobe, that changes as they age. What’s right for one person may not be for another. Trying to protect your family from everything all the time is impractical and exhausting, but some thoughtful planning can help you find the best, most efficient solutions.  

Solutions are not necessarily about just the tools or software you use. It’s about understanding the threats and concerns you have, and then determining what steps you can take to mitigate those risks. In security, we call this process security planning (or threat modeling), and it’s as applicable in deciding how to manage the privacy and security of youth as it is for adults…”

THE 21st CENTURY IS NOT TURNING OUT AS I HAD HOPED: The Lucrative World of Literary Scams.

“Hello Professor Snigdha Poonam,” the email began. I read that again. Nobody has ever called me “professor” for the obvious reason that I am not a professor. Bracing myself, I read on.

The email was from Timothy Firth, organizer of a Seattle-based life-drawing community with 1,943 members that regularly has “thoughtful discussions inspired by creative works.” A recent inspiration was my first book, Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World. The group wanted to discuss it, the email said, at one of its upcoming meetups. Attendees would be encouraged to post reviews on Goodreads and Amazon after.

I looked up CAM Life Drawing and found an events page and an Instagram account. The latter had some photos of Timothy Firth — white, male — as well as testimonials from members who said he worked “day and night to create more community space.” Something told me this wasn’t the man who had reached out to me.

Why would a hyperlocal life-drawing community in Seattle be interested in a nonfiction book about the shifting aspirations of young people in India’s small towns?  The book was published seven years ago. What did they want from me?

I accepted the invitation. The next email had a slick poster promoting the Zoom event, with the book cover as the backdrop and blurbs from the Economistand other publications. My attention was drawn to something more intriguing: a request for a “contribution fee,” with no amount specified. It would cover promotion, coordination and administration. But, oddly, this email didn’t come from Timothy. Signing off this time was Stephen — “Organizer, Community Improv LA,” another group in another city. According to the improv community’s Facebook group, Stephen is indeed the name of the organizer. However, Stephen had written to me using Timothy’s email address. To add to the chaos, Stephen/Timothy had also left what I suspect was an AI prompt in the email, which included the line: “MAKE IT MORE PROFESSIONAL.”

This was undoubtedly a scam. Genuine book clubs don’t ask for money from authors. But who was behind it?

Pocock reveals former TPB CEO complaints to Senate

Pocock reveals former TPB CEO complaints to Senate

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock raises allegations of misconduct, bullying and interference in investigations into PwC Australia by tax regulators

TOM RAVLIC

Tom Ravlic OCT 30, 2026

The Australian Greens have revealed that the former secretary of the Tax Practitioners Board lodged a formal complaint against staff of the TPB and the Australian Taxation Office about conduct related to investigations into PwC Australia.

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock referred to the complaints made by former TPB secretary Michael O’Neill during two sets of hearings in Senate estimates.

Pocock first attempted to table the document unredacted when the Australian Public Service Commission but that was unsuccessful because the document was deemed to contain information that was sensitive and ought to be protected.

The Greens senator took a second opportunity to raise O’Neill’s complaints during the appearance at Senate estimates by the Australian Taxation Office and the TPB.

Pocock began her line of questioning of the two tax-related agencies by providing both Rob Heferen, the ATO commissioner, and Peter de Cure, the TPB chair, with a copy of the document for their information.

Heferen originally received a copy as the first port of call for an employee complaint while de Cure only learned of the document’s existence when Pocock attempted to have it tabled and published the day before.

“Mr O’Neill makes five allegations in his, uh, complaint. The first of them relates to the actions of some APS officers and officials and raises significant concerns about the adherence of those officers to the APS code of conduct,” Pocock said.

“And then there are four other issues, the independence of the TPB and its operation in relation to the PwC matter (https://www.themandarin.com.au/305510-tax-heavyhitter-orme-takes-up-top-tpb-role/), the TPB’s investigations in relation to PwC and Peter John Collins.

“Thirdly, evidence provided at parliamentary hearings and responses to questions on notice. And fourthly, ongoing bullying, harassment, and threats against him, uh, as he exercised his powers as the TPB’s CEO and secretary.”

Heferen told the committee that he was dutybound to not discuss or reveal anything associated with the complaint because both the document and the outcome of the actual investigation were protected information under the privacy and public service laws.

“In particular, such disclosure may send a message to the public and the whole common public sector that conducts processes can be made public and this could undermine the effectiveness of the hundreds of investigations that occur every year that potentially jeopardise workplace integrity conditions and performance,” Heferen said.

“I mean, given that advice, guidance to me, I’m afraid, senator, I feel, I am concerned if I step into a discussion of any of the matters, given that I’ve been given an explicit instruction not to publicly disclose, that I could then be operating in breach of the code,  in that I’m failing to protect confidential information.”

Pocock then attempted to raise a matter with Heferen related to allegations of bullying, threats and harassment.

Heferen returned served by telling Pocock that he was unable to talk about any matters involved in the complaint, and that de Cure having a copy of the document before him might actually be in breach of the requirements for documents to be kept private and confidential.

Pocock decided to try another vein of inquiry, but this time she directed it at the de Cure in his capacity as TPB chairman.

She pointed to a portion of the complaint in which O’Neill alleged that a question on notice may not have been dealt with in accordance with Pocock’s instruction.

The complaint as described by Pocock is that O’Neill was asked to respond to certain questions about changes to rules related to the appointment of the CEO and secretary of the TPB.

Pocock’s line of questioning implies that the response to the question on notice that was asked in February 2024 did not come from O’Neill personally, and that is what she wanted: the perspective of somebody in the middle of an investigation into PwC Australia that was experiencing various workplace pressures.

“Do you accept that you have misled the Senate in not complying with my request to have Mr O’Neill’s version of events, which he did prepare? You have agreed to supply them to the Senate,” Pocock said.

“They weren’t supplied to the parliament. Do you agree you have misled us in not responding to a very clear request?”

De Cure said he wanted to consult the TPB’s records related to drafting the response to Pocock’s initial notice question.

Pocock will have to wait to see what the TPB manages to find in its records in response to her request for all relevant materials related to that February 2024 question.

Context:

Key Allegations in the Complaint

APS Code of Conduct: Concerns regarding the actions, behavior, and code of conduct adherence of Australian Public Service (APS) officers and officials. 
TPB Independence: Questions over the operational independence of the TPB during the handling of the PwC matter and former partner Peter John Collins. 
PwC and Collins Investigations: Specific conduct and decisions tied to the TPB's regulatory probes into PwC Australia. 
Parliamentary Testimony: Issues surrounding evidence provided at parliamentary hearings and formal responses to questions on notice. 
Handling of Questions on Notice: Allegations that a February 2024 question on notice response regarding rules for appointing the TPB CEO and secretary did not properly reflect O'Neill's direct perspective or instructions. 

The document was handed directly to ATO Commissioner Rob Heferen and TPB Chair Peter de Cure during the hearings. Further details and ongoing parliamentary scrutiny can be followed via The Mandarin or updates from the Australian Greens. 

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock raised a formal complaint made by former Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) secretary Michael O’Neill during Senate estimates hearings involving the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the TPB.

Tabling Attempts: Pocock first attempted to table the document unredacted through the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), which was blocked because the material was deemed sensitive and protected. She later raised the contents directly during Senate estimates sessions with ATO Commissioner Rob Heferen and TPB Chair Peter de Cure.
Agency Response: Heferen declined to discuss the contents or outcome of the complaint, noting he was bound by privacy and public service laws protecting the document.

PWC scandal

Former PwC partner banned for integrity breach 

Barbara Pocock 29 Oct 2026

Make them tell the truth - ATO, ASIC feared data breach by supplier VIQ Solutions

Public servants ‘treated appallingly’

The allegations were in response to a recent submission by the APC Secretaries Board on behalf of public servants to a parliamentary standards committee. Concerns raised included examples of behaviour that went beyond “robust discussion, accountability, and free-flowing questioning that you would have in a Senate committee”, said Australian Public Service Commissioner Jacqui Curtis. 

The intention of the submission was to bring attention to “circumstances and concerns around the wellbeing and safety of our officers appearing”, said Curtis, “and asking for the committee and parliamentarians to consider that with respect to your own code of behaviour and standards.”

Curtis said she stood by the submission “because we have an obligation as the leaders of the public service – in particular in my role as the public service commissioner – to be very diligent in making sure that our staff are not exposed to things that can harm their wellbeing. We are not trying to stop public servants giving full and frank answers in a committee hearing.” 

Greens Senator and committee member David Shoebridge objected to claims that such concerns were not taken seriously. “I am not aware of a single instance where a matter has been brought to the attention of the committee and it has not been treated with seriousness and has not been addressed,” he said.

Shoebridge admitted that senators can sometimes get frustrated with public servants who obfuscate and refuse to answer questions directly. “When answers are given of that nature, they will attract criticism. One of the clearest ways to avoid that criticism is for public servants to give direct, unambiguous answers to direct and unambiguous questions.”   

Make them tell the truth. Proposal to end the dishonesty and spin when public servants appear before Parliamentary Inquiries

Indian firm accessed Australian court files ‘Incredibly sensitive’ transcripts viewed.

Former Auscript manager Paul Cutbush says he made Public Interest Disclosures to the courts in 2014 about court data going offshore.

ATO, ASIC feared data breach by supplier VIQ Solutions a year before it was public

Internal emails between the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Tax Office (ATO) exposed concerns that preferred government transcription provider, VIQ, had potentially offshored sensitive data, almost a year before the ABC first reported a court data breach by the same company.

The emails also show that ASIC, which was responsible for managing the relationship between VIQ as a preferred provider and government agencies, ignored an ATO request to assess whether other agencies had been impacted and instead left it up to VIQ.

The alarm was first raised around March 2025 when VIQ sent an email to the ATO that included a hyperlink to a transcript that was "available for download" from a site in the United Kingdom.

An assistant director at the ATO sent an email to both ASIC and VIQ stating:

"This appears to indicate the [sic] VIQ Solutions is already allowing customer data to be shared, accessed or used outside of Australia. This is of serious concern to the Australian Taxation Office."

The ATO and ASIC advised staff to stop using VIQ for transcription services until they had more information.

"We have requested that VIQ conduct an investigation and confirm that our data has not been sent overseas. We are also not utilising VIQ until the investigation is complete," an ASIC project coordinator wrote in an email chain that included ATO staff.

"If you haven't already, you may wish to request that a similar investigation is also completed for the ATO," the project coordinator wrote.

In the days that followed, concerns were raised about the integrity of the information being provided by VIQ in response to the potential breach.

"We have found some potential inconsistencies in VIQ response to date and more impacts the more questions we ask," an ATO director wrote.

By early May, VIQ had provided a report to ASIC about the potential breach. Based on the report, ASIC determined the incident was a "near miss" and that none of its own data had been compromised.

But there was no independent investigation into any other agency using the service.

An email from a project coordinator at ASIC on May 12, 2025 stated:

"Recently ASIC became aware of a potential data breach after Evidence Support Panel provider, VIQ, was thought to have sent ATO data processing offshore… This incident was determined to be a near miss, and we will work with VIQ to ensure that any risk mitigation and process improvements are implemented to ensure ongoing security..."

 Litigants in at least 146 court matters were potentially involved in a data breach that is now the subject of a formal complaint with the privacy commissioner in Canada, Senate estimates has been told.

 Greens senator David Shoebridge, who sits on the legal and constitutional affairs committee, said the numbers given by both courts were unreliable.

Frail in your 40s? What to know about ‘pre-frailty’ and how to reverse it

 Frail in your 40s? What to know about ‘pre-frailty’ and how to reverse it

When some women first walk into the gym at The Bone Clinic, their bones are thinning, their bodies are stooped, and they’re often leaning on a walking stick.

“They see people lifting heavy weights and say, ‘I could never do that’. But they do, and it’s not long before they’re standing straighter and carrying their own groceries,” says Professor Belinda Beck from the School of Allied Health, Sport Sciences and Social Work at Griffith University, and director of the Brisbane-based clinic which runs an exercise program to strengthen muscle and bone.

“Frailty isn’t inevitable with age, and it can be reversed. Our bread and butter is seeing people become functional again.”

Frailty might seem a long way off in your 40s, but research from Flinders University has found that almost half of 40- to 49-year-olds have what’s known as “pre-frailty”, meaning they already have signs of poor muscle strength and poor balance. But why?

You could blame convenience technology, like the computers, remote controls and robot lawn mowers that have stolen so much movement over the last few decades, but it’s more complex than that.

“In our study, pre-frailty was associated with more loneliness, more negative attitudes towards ageing, and having a sense of feeling older than your chronological age,” says researcher Dr Tom Brennan of Flinders University, one of the authors of a 2024 review of interventions to prevent or reverse pre-frailty and frailty.

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“If we want to prevent frailty, we should ask more about what’s happening in someone’s life. How confident are they about being active? Do they see changes in their health as something they can work on improving, or something they have to accept as they get older?” he says.

“But part of the challenge is that people in middle age may think ‘frailty’ has nothing to do with them – talking about maintaining strength, confidence and the ability to keep doing things they enjoy may make prevention feel more relevant.”

Another reason to head off frailty sooner rather than later is new research linking frailty in older adults to a 74 per cent higher dementia risk. 

“Muscle is important for so many reasons as you get older. If you’re frail, you’re less able to engage in things that help prevent dementia, like physical activity and social interaction. If it’s becoming harder to go out, you might not be seeing friends, and we know that social connection is linked to dementia risk,” says Dr Katya Numbers from the UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) who did the research into frailty and dementia.

The effect of muscle loss on the brain may also be playing a part. When muscles exercise, they produce myokines (substances that help protect the brain), which may be part of why a University of Sydney study found that lifting weights slowed or stopped degeneration in parts of the brain vulnerable to Alzheimer’s.

But preventing frailty – now affecting more than 20 per cent of over 65s – isn’t always as simple as urging older people to pick up weights, Numbers says, adding that the CHeBA study also found living alone seemed to compound dementia risk in people who were frail.

“Frail older adults living alone had almost double the risk of dementia compared with robust adults living alone. We need to look at the whole person. You’re not going to sign up for strength training if you’re feeling lonely and miserable. ”

We should also let older people do things for themselves when they can, says Beck.

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“Sometimes chivalrous husbands don’t let their wives lift heavy things ‘so they don’t hurt themselves’, but unfortunately this just makes it more likely their wives will become frail and less likely to be able to do things for themselves,” she says.

“If you lose that chivalrous husband or become his carer, suddenly you’ll be the one who has to do the heavy lifting.”

Her research at Griffith University into building bone strength is the basis of The Bone Clinic’s program. Called ONERO, it combines high-intensity resistance training and impact exercises with balance training. It’s supervised by exercise physiologists and available around Australia.

“I want to get the program available on the Medicare Benefits Schedule, so that cost isn’t a barrier. If more people could access strength training programs, the effect would be huge – we would have fewer hip fractures, and keep more people out of aged care. Ultimately, it’s about quality of life,” she says.

“The message that frailty isn’t a normal part of ageing and can be prevented needs to target people at all life stages – not just once you’ve crossed the threshold into frailty,” says Dr Coralie Wales who heads Strong Australia, a charity that promotes the importance of maintaining strength.

“If you lose physical strength, you lose the foundation of a healthy old age and your enjoyment of life.”

Hacking Tax agents preparers: Poland busts crypto exchange

President signs new federal Romance Scam Prevention law; requires dating sites and apps to reach out to all who have interacted with anyone the site removes for fraudulent activity

 

FTC sends Congress its annual report on fraud affecting older consumers

• Reported losses by those 60 or older went up 400% from 2020 to 2025, from $600 million to $3 billion
• Top frauds by this cohort were investments (crypto romance frauds?) and business and government impersonation frauds
• Most large losses were sent by bank to bank wire transfers or crypto
• Older consumer less likely overall to be victims, but lose more money

New study on online shopping, our most common fraud, found that of 250,000 sites analyzed, 100,000 were frauds; now sites are using AI to make them look more real
 
Online Shopping Fraud. This topic is the largest source of fraud complaints.  People find fantastically low prices for goods on Facebook, and increasingly on Google searches. But the goods never arrive at all, or are counterfeit, and often goods that do get sent are completely different than those advertised.  Its no surprise that most of this involves China, and is a major industry there.  And now with AI to create fake web pages this fraud is easier to conduct than ever.  People who complain to their payment mechanism, whether a credit card of PayPal, may well be able to get their money back.  For more detail, see my study on this topic.
 

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 fraud and crypto scams
 
Fraud News Around the world

• Nigeria: Man gets three years prison for impersonating someone else of Facebook in investment fraud
• Georgia: Woman (Chinese?) arrested for fraud claiming to be calling from FDIC and needing to keep victim money “safe”
• US seizes $12 million in designer watches coming from Hong Kong at Indianapolis airport
• Singapore: Four arrested for laundering money from apparnent government impersonation fraud
• UK: Eight years prison for man who sold PPE gloves he didn’t have; bought luxury cars and a rolex
• Wyoming: Police arrest Canadian man who went to home of woman to collect gold; she had been called by an “FTC employee” who told her she needed to keep money “safe;” tip to police by owner of a gold store where woman had gone to buy $450,000
• Canada: Police in Thunder Bay arrest Quebec man for grandparent fraud
• Virginia: US Customs seizes large quantity of counterfeit kitchen sinks imported from China
• India busts call center in Jaipur that was calling the US and claiming to be technical support from iPhones; arrest ten
• Texas: Former US military man extradited from the Philippines and pleads guilty to huge ID theft effort that raided bank accounts of military members
• Miami: Pakistani man charged with selling over $126 million of counterfeit postage online

FTC and CFPB

• FTC sends $9.8 million to consumers harmed by Wal-Mart toleration of fraud in wire transfer services
• DOJ files suit referred by the FTC against ticket broker who got massive number of tickets by illegal means

Artificial Intelligence

• Interpol launches consumer education effort aimed at AI and deepfakes
• Council on Foreign Relations: AI is turbocharging scam compounds in SE Asia

Humor

• Ten dumb crooks caught because of social media; including man who stole siphoned gas from police cruiser – and posted a photo of it on Facebook

BEC Fraud

• Hits City of Liberty, Texas; lose $600,000
• BEC fraud rises 30% in 2025, part because use of AI evades multi-factor authentication
•  

Benefit Theft

• India extradites man on most wanted list to the US for food stamp benefit fraud; got $600,000
• Chicago: City IG says 44 Chicago cops guilty of PPP fraud
• West Virginia: Woman pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $440,000
• Denver: Man gets 30 months prison for PPP fraud; got $1.2 million
• Phoenix: Man gets ten years prison for PPP fraud and firearms offenses; got $2.2 million
• Postal letter carrier gets 20 months prison for unemployment fraud; had money go to address he controlled
• Florida: Postal worker pleads guilty to PPP fraud
• Denver: Man gets 20 months prison for PPP fraud; must pay $5 million restitution
• FinCEN identifies $270 million in suspected federal student loan fraud
• Florida: Woman convicted of stealing $152,000 in social security benefits

Scam Compounds

• Cambodia arrests 77 police officers for their involvement in online frauds and scam compounds
• Belarus: Police bust scam group, apparently doing government impersonation fraud, and arrest 80

Bitcoin and Crypto Fraud

• Brookly DA’s office disrupts crypto investment scam targeting Russian speakers; took down 
• Poland busts crypto exchange used to launder €77 million from online frauds, arrests nine
• Under new Illinois law fraud victims that use Bitcoin ATM’s can get their money back – but only if they report it within 30 days; $750,000 returned to victims so far
• Connecticut: Man pleads guilty to crypto investment fraud; got more than $1 million; despite claims of investing he just kept the money and used it for gambling

Ransomware and data breaches

• Ransomware gangs now engaging in physical threats against employees or their families 40% of the time
• Hits City of Bernillo, New Mexico
• Attack on Alabama Board of Nursing

IRS and tax fraud

• Atlanta: Three Mexicans charged with filing faketax returns; got $74 million
• New York: Nigerian man gets eight years prison; he and others hacked tax preparation companies, stole ID’s, and filed bogus claims for tax refunds; got $2.5 million

ATM Skimming                                                       

• California: Border patrol arrests three Romanians here illegally; tied to ATM skimming and other crimes

Jamaica and Lottery Fraud

• Grand Rapids: Jamaican man extradited from Jamaican gets 6 years prison for lottery fraud; got $3.4 million

Romance Fraud and Sextortion 

• Good Morning America: Signs of a romance fraud
• Man from Ghana explains how he made $30,000 from romance fraud