US charges dozens in India-based call center fraud racket

Yahoo – AFP, Paul Handley, October 27, 2016

US Justice Department arrested 20 people in connection with Indian call centers
that cheated American of hundreds of millions of dollars (AFP Photo/Ali al-Saadi)

Washington (AFP) - US justice authorities announced action Thursday to shut down a group of Indian call centers that had cheated victims in the United States of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Justice Department said tens of thousands of victims, most of them from South Asia, were extorted by callers pretending to be US tax or immigration officials threatening them with arrest and deportation if they did not remit money to the government.

But the victims were then directed to people working with the call centers in the United States to collect the "fines" through prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, and the money was quickly laundered out of the country, according to the Justice Department.

The agency said it had arrested 20 people and unveiled charges against five call centers and 32 individuals in India in the Ahmedabad-based operation.

The US attorney in the southern district of Texas set charges against a total of 56 people and five Indian companies for conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.

The department will seek the extradition of those in India charged in the case.

"These individuals demanded immediate payments from the people they called to avoid deportation, to avoid arrest or to cover supposedly unpaid income taxes," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

"In the process, these criminals took hundreds of millions of dollars from this scam alone. The victims include people all over the United States... and targeted primarily immigrants and the elderly."

The call center racket made use of informal money transfer businesses known as hawalas to move the money. Many of those businesses did not know the money being transferred was part of an extortion scheme, according to the Justice Department.

Caldwell said the five call centers and individuals targeted were apart from the arrests early this month of some 70 people by Indian authorities also involved in call center scams.

"We want to commend the Indians for having done that because we think it's important that they come in, in addition to our enforcement efforts," said Caldwell.

The indictment names the call centers involved as HGlobal, Call Mantra, Worldwide Solution, Zoriion Communications and Sharma BPO Services.

Caldwell said the call centers worked together on the scam but did not identify any one individual or group leading the scheme.

She said it was unlikely any of the victims, most of them cheated between 2012 and 2015, would get their money back.

"Often once the money's paid, its gone," she said.

Caldwell warned that the arrests do not mean the end to such scams.

"These people are persistent. If you get phone calls, and I do expect these people are resilient and will not give up, my advice to you is just hang up," she said.

AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner in over $80 bn deal: banking source

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2016

Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time
Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution
services (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb, Stan Honda)

New York (AFP) - Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution services, a banking source familiar with the negotiations said Saturday.

An official announcement is expected before Monday's trading session on Wall Street.

AT&T is the second-largest US wireless carrier and third-largest cable TV provider in the United States, while Time Warner controls a valuable stable of entertainment content suppliers, including Warner Bros. film and TV studios, the HBO television production group, cable news giant CNN, and the TNT and TBS cable channels.

A union of the two media titans -- together worth more than $300 billion in market value -- is certain to face tough scrutiny from antitrust regulators because of potential ripple effects across media platforms.

A deal could price Time Warner at more than $105-110 per share, or more than $80 billion, the source said.

Analysts believe the transaction also could prompt other big deals involving large media companies.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Apple had approached Time Warner about a possible deal a few months ago, but the talks failed to make progress. Apple is continuing to monitor the negotiations, the newspaper said.

The deal comes amid challenges facing media companies from the decline of conventional cable television as consumers increasingly turn to streaming on mobile technology.

AT&T had $147 billion in revenues in 2015 while Time Warner reported $28 billion.

AT&T has pursued an aggressive expansion, paying almost $50 billion to buy satellite television provider DirectTV in 2015.

Time Warner shares soared 7.8 percent Friday following reports of the talks. They were up another 4.9 percent in afterhours trading on fresh reports suggesting the two sides were even closer to a deal.

AT&T dropped 3.0 percent during regular-hours trading Friday, and fell another 0.7 percent in after-hours trade.

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WNMC trains spotlight on the future of news

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. ”

On the trail of South Korea's high-tech peeping Toms

Yahoo – AFP, Jung Ha-Won, October 18, 2016

A member of Seoul's 'hidden camera-hunting' squad moves a hand-held detector
around the toilet seat of a women's bathroom stall in search of a 'secret camera'
(AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-Je)

Walking into an empty women's bathroom stall, Park Kwang-Mi waves a hand-held detector around the toilet seat, paper roll holder, doorknob and even the ventilation grill on the ceiling.

"It's my job to make sure there's no camera to film women while they relieve themselves," the 49-year-old said after similarly inspecting dozens of public toilet stalls at a museum in Seoul.

"It's weird that there are people who want to see something like that ... but this is necessary to help women feel safe," she told AFP.

A member of Seoul city's all-female "hidden camera-hunting" squad, Park is at the forefront of a battle against "molka", or "secret camera" porn.

South Korea takes pride in its tech prowess, from ultra-fast broadband to cutting-edge smartphones. Around 90 percent of its 50 million people possess smartphones -- the highest rate in the world.

But it's a culture that has also given rise to an army of tech-savvy peeping Toms in a still male-dominated country with a poor record on women's rights.

Many use special smartphone apps to film up women's skirts as they ride subway escalators or sit at desks, and spy cameras to gather footage from changing rooms and toilet stalls.

The images are then often shared to numerous molka speciality sites on the Internet.

Such practises have become so rampant that all manufacturers of smartphones sold in South Korea are required to ensure the cameras on their devices make a loud shutter sound when taking photos.

Many of South Korea's tech-savvy peeping Toms use spy cameras to

gather footage from changing rooms and toilet stalls (AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-Je)

'Molka' crimes

Molka crimes are daily news, and perpetrators cover a broad social range.

A pastor at a Seoul mega-church with 100,000 members was caught filming up a woman's skirt on an escalator. His smartphone was packed with similar images of other women.

A 31-year-old obstetrician was jailed for secretly filming female patients and nurses in a changing room and sharing some of the images on the Internet.

And the head coach of South Korea's national swimming team resigned last month after two male swimmers were found to have installed a hidden camera in the locker room of their women teammates.

According to police data, the number of molka crimes jumped more than six-fold from about 1,110 in 2010 to more than 6,600 in 2014.

While some offenders use smartphones, others employ spy-style gadgets, including ballpoint pens, glasses or wrist watches equipped with micro lenses, said Hyun Heung-Ho, a detective attached to Seoul police's metro squad.

The squad was established in 1987 to fight subway crime like pickpockets, but now its main focus is on tackling various kinds of sexual harassment, including molka crimes.

"It's tough because the technology they use advances so fast, like special apps to mute camera sound or to show something else on the display while the camera is rolling," Hyun told AFP.

The majority of men nabbed by the squad are in their 20s or 30s -- and include many college-educated, white-collar workers.

"They generally cry and beg to be let off, saying they were 'simply curious'," Hyun said.

High-tech gadgets

Convicted offenders face a fine of up to 10 million won ($9,100) or a maximum jail term of five years.

To help with their crackdown, police have offered cash rewards to those reporting molka crimes and the Seoul city council has hired dozens of women like Park to scour bathrooms and other spaces for hidden cameras.

Office worker Lee Hae-Kyung said she, like many of her friends, tried to avoid toilets in public spaces like subway stations.

"If I urgently need to use a public toilet, I always inspect the doorknob or the flush handle," the 38-year-old told AFP.

"It's scary because many molka are apparently filmed by normal people like office workers ... so who knows? An ordinary-looking guy standing next to you in the subway may be filming up your skirt," she said.

Whenever a man stands behind Lee on an escalator, she slightly turns her body to face him or look him in the eye -- a move detective Hyun says can act as a strong deterrent.

The main focus of Seoul's 'hidden camera-hunting' squad nowdays is on tackling

various kinds of sexual harassment, including 'molka' crimes (AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-Je)

Gender inequality

According to Lee Na-Young, a sociology professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, the only real solution is a societal one.

Lee said "upskirt videos" had been avidly consumed in South Korea and Japan for decades.

"Both are deeply conservative nations where open discussion of sex is quite taboo, people feel sexually oppressed and women are relentlessly objectified and discriminated against," she said.

South Korea -- Asia's fourth-largest economy -- has long been ranked bottom for women's rights among OECD member nations.

Average pay for South Korean women is 63.3 percent that of men -- the lowest in the OECD -- and women account for 11 percent of managerial positions and 2.1 percent of corporate boards -- far lower than the OECD average of 31 percent and 19 percent.

In this environment, some men view women as nothing more than sexual objects, Lee said, describing the molka trend as a "wrong marriage between fast-evolving technology and slow-evolving patriarchal culture."

"The molka problem won't be solved unless we deal with this bigger social problem through education at home and at school," she said.

Driving licences on your mobile phone ‘in next few years’

DutchNews, October 3, 2016

Photo: rijbewijs.nl

Driving licences could be available as a phone app in the next few years under plans proposed by the vehicle licensing service. 

Bas van den Berg, head of the driving licences unit at the RVW agency, said the technology for mobile licences was in development. ‘You’ll download an app from the store and the details of your driving licence will be stored in a secure manner,’ he said. 

The proposal came on the day when paper driving licences officially expired. The Telegraaf reported that around 300,000 old-style licenses had not been handed in, even though drivers risk a €90 fine if they rely on an invalid document. 

Van den Berg explained that the app would exist in two forms: one for the licence holder and one to allow the police to read the details securely. 

He added that security was a paramount issue: ‘There are no 100 per cent guarantees against hacking, but the technology has evolved to the point where people’s details can be stored securely.’

How did Dutch phone calls end up in the hands of an Australian software firm?

DutchNews, September 30, 2016

Private telephone conversations between thousands of Dutch nationals have ended up in the hands of an Australian software company, the Volkskrant said on Friday. 

The conversations were recorded in 2010 and 2011 and the only explanation, telecom experts told the paper, is that they were recorded by British spy service GCHQ. The information was then probably handed over to the Australian company Appen with the aim of improving software for converting speech into text, the paper said. 

The Volkskrant was contacted by a Dutch national who worked for Appen in Britain in 2011. As part of her job, she was required to describe thousands of audio fragments featuring ordinary Dutch people on the phone. 

Many of the calls were between taxi drivers in The Hague but in one call she heard her ex-boyfriend’s voice. He used Vodafone and had not given permission for the company to share his conversations with anyone. 

The Volkskrant says it has email and other evidence to back up the woman’s claim. 

Appen is a technology company that develops software for converting speech into text. 

Vodafone told the Volkskrant it did not ‘collaborate’ with Appen. Appen said in a statement if it does collect data, it does so with the permission of ‘participants’. The company said it does not collaborate with ‘telecom companies’, but declined to answer the question whether this also applies to law enforcement agencies. 

Read the full article, in English