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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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ING is piloting a peer-to-peer payments app that uses ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to let users transfer money by simply pointing one handset at another.

The Dutch bank is working with Samsung and NXP Semiconductors on the ‘Near’ app pilot, an industry first for UWB, a new technology based on radio waves that that can precisely lock onto an object, discover its location and communicate with it.

Users open the ING app, point their phone to the individual to whom they wish to transfer money, and confirm the transaction. There is no need to enter another person’s email address, phone number or IBAN when making a payment.

Both the payer and recipient must have the ING and Near apps on their phone, which for the pilot will need to be a UWB-enabled Samsung Galaxy.

From ING pilots ultra-wideband tech for P2P contactless payments.

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There exists a surprisingly lively international trade in dead human bodies for medical dissection. This trade is rarely discussed and relatively lightly regulated: there is no one head, or body, that directly oversees the imports of heads and bodies.

From How much is a human head?:

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The demand for bodies, then, is there—but in many countries it is not matched by supply. Around 1,300 donors (anatomists are careful to call the bodies “donors” rather than “cadavers”) are accepted each year in Britain. But not all that are donated can be used. Bodies might be rejected for many reasons, including being hiv positive; being too thin; too tall; too fat; or having an open wound (embalming fluid pours out). At other times, demand can simply be too sudden to meet: finding 20 human heads in a hurry is hard.

From How much is a human head?:

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The My Number national identification card system, already plagued with privacy concerns, suffered a further setback Tuesday after the government reported two cases in which ID cards were erroneously issued to people with the same names as the intended recipients.

Although the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said that the cards issued in error were not misused, the cases also highlighted the risk that My Number cards could be abused by individuals pretending to be someone else when applying for social security or state benefits, or when undertaking tax procedures.

Those who received the wrong cards were not aware they had been issued incorrectly and only used them to obtain shopping points, offered under the government’s program to increase uptake. The government has been promoting the ID cards as the country’s “highest-ranking identification card.”

From My Number ID system faces further setback with erroneous deliveries | The Japan Times:

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For offline transactions, “neither the European Central Bank nor the payment services providers will gain access to personal transaction data,” though banks who distribute the currency can send financial crime authorities details of how accounts are funded if they suspect money laundering.

From European CBDC Bill Outlaws Interest, Large Holdings, Programmability, Leaked Version Shows:

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According to the website, the Snoop Dogg Passport Series is akin to a “tour poster that evolves with each place Snoop stops on tour.” The NFT will grant holders access to behind-the-scenes content, exclusive merch, art and experiences from the music icon. Snoop’s summer tour will begin on July 7 in Vancouver.

From Snoop Dogg Launches Evolving Digital Collectible, the Passport Series:

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In their letter, the lawmakers cited a January Consumer Reports survey that found 9% of weekly P2P users had been the victim of a scam and 12% accidentally sent money to the wrong recipient. A 2022 Pew Research Center report found that Black and Hispanic P2P users are twice as likely to be scammed compared to their white counterparts, they wrote.

From Senate Democrats pressure PayPal, Venmo, Cash App over fraud:

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