Snippings

The LexisNexis CEO Haywood Talcove recently said that the U.S. Government could be looking at over $1 TRILLION in AI-assisted fraud if it does not take action soon. This may sound hyperbolic, but I do not think so. For two reasons: first, because of the rapid increase in scale of fraud during the pandemic and second, because I have been studying the impact of fraud in the defense sector in a research context.

First of all, allow me to remind you of the scale of the fraud.

Second, I am fortunate to have a couple of academic roles as a research fellow at British universities. In one of those research roles, I have been part of a project looking at digital transformation

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Why it matters: Dealmaking for companies that sell regulatory tech to financial services players surged in 2022 to an all-time high, KPMG’s fintech report shows — even as the broader fintech market fell.

From A bright spot in fintech funding: Regtech:

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First, says the group, the move to ensure that all consumers experiencing APP fraud will get their money back, unless they are “grossly negligent”, may increase fraud because people will pretend to be “vulnerable” and thus becoming automatically entitled to reimbursement even when they have been acting intentionally.

The decision to split the cost of compensation 50/50 between the sending bank/issuer and the receiving bank/issuer will likely make firms more cautious about opening marginal accounts, hurting the low income and vulnerable people.

Finally, the association argues that not involving social media companies means that APP fraud will not be stopped at its source

From Payments Association warns UK govt on APP fraud plans:

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The Russian government has become far more successful at manipulating social media and search engine rankings than previously known, boosting lies about Ukraine’s military and the side effects of vaccines with hundreds of thousands of fake online accounts, according to documents recently leaked on the chat app Discord.

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The Russian operators of those accounts boast that they are detected by social networks only about 1 percent of the time, one document says.

From Russia claims bots are caught only 1% of the time, Discord leak says – The Washington Post:

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Matt Hammerstein, the chief executive of Barclays UK, echoed the dire situation, stating the country was “suffering an epidemic of scams”, with its data showing 77% take place on tech platforms, including social media sites and online marketplaces.

“It is in the interest of everyone that tech companies now join this fight in earnest, to prevent the unchecked growth of what is now the most common crime in the UK, costing the economy billions each year,” he said. “If they are unwilling to act quickly enough on a voluntary basis,

From Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp | Meta | The Guardian:

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On the consumer side, the same power exists within wallet providers. As wallets become the center of TRUST and INTERACTION with greater consumer intelligence (Google Wallet blog – 2012).  Alipay and WeChat Pay are the best example platforms. While I see little chance of a US “Super App”, I do see Apple/Google as the super consumer platform empowering consumer choice and protecting consumer data.

From Wallets, APIs and Trust | Noyes Payments Blog.

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Hedge funds and other computer-driven trading firms are growing increasingly concerned about the threat that artificial intelligence presents to their profits, after a fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon triggered a brief sell-off in US stocks.

The S&P 500 index fell 0.3 per cent within 30 minutes late last month after a viral tweet from a blue tick verified Twitter account showed the image of an explosion that never happened. The image, which spread rapidly on social media and was very quickly shown to be fake, is likely to have been AI-generated, investigative website Bellingcat and others have speculated.

Nevertheless, the incident underscores how AI-generated news and images could pose a big problem for hedge funds and ultrafast proprietary trading firms that use complex algorithms to comb vast amounts of news and social media for market-moving signals that they can then rapidly trade.

While their computers have become more adept at sifting out false news stories and social media posts, executives at quantitative trading firms warn that machine-generated misinformation is a new frontier.

From Computer-driven trading firms fret over risks AI poses to their profits | Financial Times.

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thief has been arrested in Brazil after he allegedly placed customer photos over a dummy to access their banks accounts and take out loans.

The 34-year-suspect was able go around the mobile banking app’s facial recognition log in option with the images of the account holders to proceed with the scam, the São Paulo Civil Police said.

From Brazilian thief ‘taped photos of his victims’ faces’ onto a DUMMY to bypass facial recognition | Daily Mail Online.

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Wagner has been operating for the past 10 years using only cash – as agreed in our contract. I fully adhere to it,’ he said.

From Putin’s FSB security service troops find £38million in van and two buses after raiding Wagner HQ  | Daily Mail Online.

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Last year, the CEO of messaging app IRL repeatedly said it had 20 million monthly active users, who chatted about shared interests and planned real-world events together. Today, a spokesperson for the startup said an investigation by the board of directors concluded 95% of those users were “automated or from bots.”

From Social App IRL, Which Raised $200 Million, Shuts Down After CEO Misconduct Probe — The Information.

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