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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued a warning that customers of WeLab Bank are the target of a phishing scam. WeLab prides itself on being Hong Kong's "only home grown virtual bank." But it's more than a bank so the scam has potentially much wider implications.

BIScom Subsection: 

Those with long memories will remember the well-worn name of Andre Coker. It's been used in a variety of spam-scams but, at least insofar as it's reached us, been unused for some time. But it's back and Andre is a woman now.

The subject of "digital identity" suffers from one big problem: what does it mean?

In researching this article, I concluded that it is so imprecise as to be meaningless except as an umbrella term covering a wide range of loosely connected topics. Perhaps, one day, these topics will converge but that day isn't now nor is it any time soon.

BIScom Subsection: 

The US government, acting through the US Department of the Treasury and the Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a second set of sanctions against foreign cryptocurrency exchange, this time as part of a larger action against the biggest and longest established Dark Web Market, which is also subject to sanctions. That's all very interesting but buried in the story is something fascinating: a one-stop, global, hawala service.

Publication: 

Much store is placed on "mixers," which are also known as "blenders" and "tumblers." Let's strip away the myth.

Open Letter to ( CEO ): 
Mr Lutz Schuler
Open Letter to ( Company ): 
O2, part of Virgin-02
Summary: 

At what point does the customer give up and say "this has to be a con?"

For me, it was the point when 02 sent an SMS saying that benefits that were advertised and confirmed by a shop assistant were denied.

But that's the spoiler. How we got there is a story of either willingly stringing customers along or of utter ineptitude.

To say that the the 2021 season of Formula One ended on a sour note would be the understatement of all time.

The series faced an existential crisis. When the teams assembled for testing, nothing would be the same.

When the lights went out for the first race, in Bahrain, only one question mattered: had Formula One survived?

CoNet Section: 

Australia's Consumer and Competition Commission has sued two companies within Meta, the parent group of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp over crypto-ads by celebrities. The companies are Meta Platforms, Inc. and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited

The action is intended to establish that social media and other platforms are responsible for what appears there, something that all social media - and even online versions of established media have long fought against.

CoNet Section: 

"Crypto ATMs offering cryptoasset exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations). None of the cryptoasset firms registered with us have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not be using them."

Thus said the Financial Conduct Authority today after receiving the judgment in Gidiplus v The Financial Conduct Authority.

Buried in a long and complicated judgment there is a short and simple answer to the question "can a company sue for defamation?"

Here it is.

CoNet Section: 

The statement below, from the UK government's website for the Department of Business sets out the immediate and short-term plans for, inter alia, the registration of foreign companies operating in the UK. The statement was published on 28th February 2022. The Bill was introduced to Parliament hours later.

Nigel Morris-Cotterill will publish a BLOG/cast on the companies registration portion of the Bill on 10th March 2022 at www.financialcrimebroadcasting...

CoNet Section: 

BIG YELLOW (WARNING) FLAG

Something happened this week that raises some serious questions.

And there are no clear answers.

The ACCC’s 2022/23 compliance and enforcement priorities include manipulative or deceptive advertising in the digital economy, environmental claims and sustainability, and disruptions to global and domestic supply chains.

BIScom Subsection: 

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