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1.2m in cryptocurrency seized in major fraud operation – RTE.ie

1.12 million in cryptocurrency has been seized as part of a national and international investigation into money laundering and fraudulent text messages.

It is the first major seizure of cryptocurrency in the area of organised cyber-enabled frauds by An Garda Sochna.

Garda attached to the Waterford Division Crime Hub have been conducting what they described as a "complex criminal investigation" focusing on the bulk transmission of smishing texts (Fraudulent text or WhatsApp Messages).

Nine men were arrested in Waterford between September and October as part of this investigation.

Two of the men subsequently appeared before Waterford District Court, where they were charged with offences related to money laundering, theft and fraud offences.

Garda said the investigation had also resulted in the freezing of 30,000 in other monies, the seizure of two vehicles - a Volkswagen Golf and a Mercedes - and the identification of a property in Dubai.

The criminal activity involved fraudulent text and WhatsApp messages claiming to be from national postal offices, delivery companies and financial institutions.

The investigation is being coordinated by the Waterford Crime Office with the assistance of GNECB (Virtual Assets Investigation Unit and FIU Ireland), GNCCB, Europol, Garda Passenger Information Unit (GPIU) and other Garda Divisions.

Europol and garda liaisons in Irish embassies are also facilitating the investigation team in conjunction with other police forces to progress the investigation internationally.

The investigation has established that the criminal activity is operating in a number of countries in Europe, the UK, Dubai and South Africa.

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1.2m in cryptocurrency seized in major fraud operation - RTE.ie

B.C. crypto exchange built on misrepresentations, says BCSC – Vancouver Is Awesome

NetCents and its CEO Clayton Leigh Moore refute the allegations brought by the B.C. Securities Commission that their cryptocurrency exchange was illegal and insider trading regulations were violated.

A former Vancouver resident is facing a hearing before the B.C. Securities Commission for allegedly creating an illegal cryptocurrency exchange administered by a non-existent Swiss-based foundation and promoted with a slew of misrepresentations.

Clayton Leigh Moore and NetCents Technology Inc. face various allegations of breaking the B.C. Securities Act, according to a hearing notice issued Monday.

Moore is the founder of NetCents, a Vancouver-headquartered cryptocurrency payment processing company that traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange from 2016 until May 2021, when the commission halted trading when it says Moore made changes to the beneficial ownership or control of company shares without filing insider trading reports.

On Nov. 27, 2018, the commission froze $3.3 million of company assets derived from the sale of a cryptocurrency Moore created and sold, in 2017, dubbed the NetCents Coin.

The commission alleges that the coin was an investment contract, and thus a security;however, Moore sold it without registering it with the commission (with a prospectus document, or approved exemption).

Moore and the company then created an exchange for investors to buy and sell the coin;however, this was also done without approval from the commission, according to the notice.

Through it all the commission says Moore and the company made misrepresentations to the public via its social media accounts and news releases.

NetCents, said the commission, purported to create a foundation called the NetCents Coin Foundation, to promote and administer the coin. Managing the coin network would be the NetCents Coin Organization, a non-profit the company advertised.

In fact, neither the NCC Organization nor the NCC Foundation, nor any similar independent entity existed during the distribution period and therefore could not have done any of the things NetCents claimed they didand all of the proceed from sales of the Coin went to NetCents.

The company also issued news releases in November 2017 to claim the coin had sold out, but the commission alleges this was not the case.

And in a YouTube video, the company claimed monthly revenue of $100,000 when in fact, NetCents own financial disclosure indicated that its revenue for the entire fiscal year 2017 was less than $100,000, the notice states.

NetCents and Moore knew or ought reasonably have known that the statements on its websites, and in the new releases and YouTube video were misrepresentations, the commission alleges.

NetCents also established an online exchange named the NC Exchange where customers opened accounts and submitted orders to buy and sell the coin. This was done without registering with the commission, the notice states.

Moore issued a statement on Nov. 21, stating the company holds on record a written acknowledgment from the BCSC confirming that its operations were not deemed an illegal exchange prior to the implementation of new registration requirements, announced by the BCSC on Aug.15, 2022, for all cryptocurrency exchanges.

Moore has also taken issue with the protracted nature of the commissions investigation, spanning almost five years. The company, stated Moore, is prepared to defend against the allegations.

The Company anticipates that the outcome will reflect its dedication to compliance and the innovative spirit that drives the company, stated Moore, who added that the company is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with Fintrac.

The notice stated Moore resided in Vancouver at the time of the alleged infractions. Moores LinkedInprofile places him in Dubai, where on July 5, 2022 Moore and NetCents announced a partnership with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum.

Moores yet to file annual financial statements for 2021 and 2022.

In the year ending Oct.31, 2020, the company, after raising millions of dollars from investors, reported revenue of $271,492 and expenses of $21.7 million, including $5.1 million on consultants, $1 million on professional fees and $3.2 million in employee salaries; this also includes $9.8 million of share-based payments.

Moore reported a salary of $269,000 and $414,029 of shares in 2020.

In 2018, when the company cleared $120,578 in revenue, Moore reported remuneration of $311,000 cash and $997,503 worth of shares.

The companys CFO Christopher Cherry resigned in July 2021.

Its frozen stock sits at 69 cents per share.

gwood@glaciermedia.ca

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B.C. crypto exchange built on misrepresentations, says BCSC - Vancouver Is Awesome

SECP takes notice of surrogate ads by cryptocurrency exchanges … – Profit by Pakistan Today

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), taking notice of the increasing trend of surrogate advertisements on certain internet-based cryptocurrency exchanges and betting platforms, has directed all companies, including limited liability partnerships (LLPs), not to enter into any type of advertisement or sponsorship agreements with entities involved in surrogate advertising.

Surrogate advertising is a loophole. For example in India there has long been a law in some states that bans the advertising of alcohol. So what alcohol companies do to get around this is launch a product with very similar brand recognition to their alcohol.

Similarly, one of the main sponsors of Pakistan Cricket Board used to be Dafa News. Now, a website called Dafa News definitely existed and was a news website. But it was owned and operated by DafaBet, which is a well known betting company. While the law does not allow DafaBet to sponsor in Pakistan, there is nothing stopping a news website like Dafa News from sponsoring. Hence, a loophole.

The SECP expanded on this by saying that the surrogate advertising is the promotion of banned products, digital coins, and betting platforms as substitute goods, often through indirect means like sponsorship of sports events, aiming to implant the brand in consumers minds. It has also been observed that various online platforms, disguised as sports blogs and news websites, are promoting illegal digital coins, online betting, and cryptocurrency investments.

The Notification issued under Section 40B of the SECP Act advised all companies and LLPs to immediately terminate all existing agreements with such surrogate entities/companies and ensure compliance in true letter and spirit.

As per the regulations by the government of Pakistan, any kind of betting is illegal under the Prevention of Gambling Act 1977, whereas cryptocurrency through online platforms was recently suspended in May 2023.

According to the SECP, the public is strongly advised to exercise extreme caution while making investments in such internet platforms and mobile apps. None of the individuals, companies, or entities advertising cryptocurrencies in Pakistan have been recognized or authorized by the SECP or other regulatory bodies. Thus, the investments promoted by these entities carry risks and may be part of fraudulent schemes.

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SECP takes notice of surrogate ads by cryptocurrency exchanges ... - Profit by Pakistan Today

Destinations weigh up impact of AI – PhocusWire

Destination marketing experts believe artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on the sector, according to a new report.

Sojern's State of Destination Marketing 2024, released Monday, revealed that 49% of destination marketing organizations (DMO) are expecting a significant impact from AI.

In content creation and personalization, 37% believed it will have a high impact, while 44% said some impact. In campaign creation and optimization, 29% said it will have a high impact versus 47% that said some impact.

Meanwhile, in data analysis and interpretation, 38% said they see a high impact while 43% said some impact.

The report covers further trends in DMO marketing with marketers saying 20-40% of budgets are devoted to creating content with the remaining 60-80% going towards paid marketing to promote that content.

Search and social media marketing dominate paid media, and nearly all DMOs, 96%, said they view social media advertising to be of high or average importance, and 95% said the same for search. Programmatic came next at 86% followed by influencer marketing at 74%.

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Despite the recognition of the importance of social media marketing, TikTok is seen as one of the top three social marketing channels by only 29% of DMOs.

Further insight from the report includes that more than half of respondents, 54%, view data as the most valuable resource for marketing planning, and 38% said the same of data in campaign reporting.

When it came to the challenges of using data in marketing, respondents flagged the lack of data integration across channels as a top concern followed by the high cost of acquiring data and limited access to quality data.

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Destinations weigh up impact of AI - PhocusWire

Sociable: Will chaos at OpenAI benefit social media’s AI projects? – Marketing Dive

Sociable is the latest commentary on important social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today.

If you follow broader news in the tech sector at all, you have no doubt seen reports about the chaos at OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT and Dall-E, among other AI projects. The company is seemingly now imploding before our eyes, marking what may be the fastest, and most unusual fall from grace that weve ever witnessed.

And while the dust is yet to fully settle, it does seem like a significant shift in AI development is coming, which relates to several social media platforms directly, and could influence their trajectory on this front going forward.

First off, theres the Microsoft angle, which has become a key player in the OpenAI debacle.

Over the weekend, once the OpenAI board decided to fire CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft immediately readied to take him on, and it still seems poised to reposition Altman as the CEO of its own, new AI arm, if the OpenAI board is unable to retain him.

The uncertainty over where Altman will wind up is the current stalling point. Many OpenAI staff have vowed to walk if Altman is not reinstated, while OpenAIs board is still seemingly undecided on the best path forward. Altman has been in talks to potentially return, under certain conditions, but its unclear whether the OpenAI team will agree to such.

Negotiations, as they say, are ongoing.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has invested billions into OpenAI, in order to become a key player in the rapidly evolving AI space. Along with this, Microsoft has also now built generative AI elements, based on OpenAIs GPT system, into virtually all of its tools and platforms, including LinkedIn.

At the same time, Microsoft has reportedly committed $50 billion to AI infrastructure over the next five years, in order to boost its capacity, again largely on the back of its partnership with OpenAI.

Essentially, OpenAI is already Microsofts AI arm, and its deeply invested in securing its future operations on this front, either by facilitating a re-establishment of OpenAIs board and executive, or by taking on as many OpenAIemployees as it can, if things end up falling apart.

In a social media context, theres not a heap more thats immediately on the cards, as LinkedIn has already crammed AI elements into almost every aspect of its platform as it is. But Microsoft will no doubt be looking for new angles and tools as time goes on, which is where these negotiations are relevant.

Will the changes at OpenAI derail Microsofts broader AI plans? That seems unlikely.

If anything, a full ouster of Altman will likely expedite Microsofts own AI development, by handing it a number of key staff, though it could change the development trajectory of AI tools more broadly, in terms of safety versus development. Which has reportedly been at the core of the conflict within OpenAI, with board members and staff in disagreement around fundamental approaches on these grounds.

We dont have all the details on this as yet, but essentially, Microsoft looks well-placed to move forward with its AI plans, regardless of the final outcome.

Another AI player is Meta, which is developing its own generative AI models, and has even partnered with Microsoft on some projects.

Meta could also stand to benefit here, if OpenAI does indeed fall apart, which is still possible, based on the number of staff pledging allegiance to Altman, and vowing to quit OpenAI unless hes reinstated.

Those employees will be in high demand for other AI projects, and Meta could snap them up, while it may also see Microsoft increase its reliance on its partnership with Meta for future AI development, if it ends up seeking more stability, depending on whats left of the OpenAI team.

X, via its xAI project, has also opened the door to any OpenAI staff that may want to come on board to help it develop its AI tools. It now has its own chatbot, in Grok, and internal knowledge of OpenAIs systems would be of great benefit to its evolving projects.

xAI still remains a smaller player, in comparison to Meta, Google, and Microsoft (via OpenAI). But Elon Musk is keen to be a leader, and hes also super keen to destroy OpenAI if he can, given his past relationship with the company.

Salesforce has also put the call out to OpenAI staff looking for a new project, while others will be putting out feelers to see what they can get.

Essentially, a full breakdown of OpenAI would shake-up the AI development landscape, and ultimately benefit the remaining players, while OpenAI itself fades out.

The alternative is that OpenAI can come to an agreement with its former leaders, and establish a new way forward, but negotiations remain ongoing, and its hard to know exactly where things will end up at this stage.

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Sociable: Will chaos at OpenAI benefit social media's AI projects? - Marketing Dive