#5 internet fraud suspects

[daisystuff]

Top 10 ways to earn money using AI tools:

1. Content creation: AI writing tools such as GPT-3 can be used to create high-quality content for websites, blogs, and social media platforms.

Creation of content: To produce excellent material for websites, blogs, and social media platforms, AI writing tools like GPT-3 can be employed. For content providers, these systems may generate articles, product descriptions, and even poetry. AI systems may also analyse data to identify the ideal content formats and offer recommendations for what subjects to cover to draw in more readers. Businesses and individuals can improve their online presence and drive more visitors to their websites by adopting AI tools for content production.

Click here for some AI Tools

2. Social media marketing: AI tools such as Hootsuite and Socialbakers can be used to automate social media marketing campaigns and analyse data to optimize performance.

Social media marketing: Hootsuite and Socialbakers are two examples of AI systems that may be used to automate campaigns for social media marketing and analyse data to improve performance. These tools allow users to plan and produce content, keep track of mentions on social media, and analyse engagement metrics like likes, shares, and comments. AI systems may also evaluate data to identify the most effective content genres, the most engaging audience segments, and the ideal times to post. Businesses can save time and money while enhancing their online presence and engagement by utilising AI solutions for social media marketing.

3. Customer service: AI chatbots can be used to provide 24/7 customer service and support, reducing the need for human staff.

Customer assistance: AI chatbots can be used to offer round-the-clock customer care, hence lowering the requirement for human staff. These chatbots can process orders, recommend products, and respond to frequently asked queries. Furthermore, AI systems can examine client interactions with chatbots to spot patterns and pinpoint areas for development. Businesses can enhance customer experience while cutting costs by employing AI tools for customer support.

4. E-commerce personalization: AI tools can be used to analyse customer data and provide personalized product recommendations, improving the customer experience and increasing sales.

Personalization of e-commerce: AI techniques can be used to evaluate user data and offer tailored product recommendations, enhancing customer satisfaction and boosting sales. These technologies can look at past purchases, purchasing patterns, and even social media activity to provide suggestions for specific products. Additionally, by showing pertinent content and deals depending on client choices, AI systems may tailor the purchasing experience. Businesses may boost consumer loyalty and profitability by adopting AI solutions for e-commerce personalisation.

5. Online advertising: AI tools such as Google AdWords and Facebook Ads can be used to optimize online advertising campaigns and increase ROI.

Internet advertising: To improve online advertising campaigns and boost ROI, employ AI technologies like Google AdWords and Facebook Ads. These programes can evaluate data to find the most effective keywords, target market, and ad placements. AI systems may also test various ad variants and automatically change bids to enhance performance. Businesses may boost their online presence, draw in more customers, and do so while spending less money by adopting AI solutions for online advertising.

Click here for some AI Tools

6. Fraud detection: AI tools can be used to detect and prevent fraud in financial transactions and e-commerce platforms.

Fraud detection: AI systems can be used to spot and stop fraud in online and financial transactions. With the help of these technologies, data may be analysed to spot suspect patterns, transactions, and behaviours and flag them for more examination. AI tools can also draw lessons from past events to increase their accuracy and stop fraud in the future. Businesses may safeguard themselves, their clients, and their reputations by adopting AI systems for fraud detection.

7. Business intelligence: AI tools can be used to analyse large amounts of data and provide insights into business performance, helping to identify areas for improvement and growth.

Business intelligence: AI systems can be used to analyse vast volumes of data and offer insights into organisational performance, assisting in the identification of opportunities for development and growth. These technologies can examine client behaviour, market trends, and sales data to offer recommendations and insights that can be put into practice. AI systems may also automate data collection and analysis, saving firms time and resources. Businesses can use AI tools for business intelligence to make better decisions and increase their bottom line.

8. Health care: AI tools can be used to improve patient outcomes by analysing medical data and providing personalized treatment recommendations.

Healthcare: By evaluating medical data and offering individualised treatment recommendations, AI techniques can be utilised to enhance patient outcomes. These systems may examine medical files, genetic information, and even data from wearable devices to spot potential health hazards and offer individualised treatment options. AI tools can also help doctors diagnose and treat patients more accurately and with fewer mistakes. Patients can receive better care while paying less money and operating more effectively by adopting AI tools in the medical field.

Click here for some AI Tools

9. Education: AI tools can be used to provide personalized learning experiences for students, improving engagement and retention.

Education: By offering students individualised learning experiences, AI systems can increase student engagement and retention. With the use of these technologies, educators can identify learning gaps and offer tailored solutions. Additionally, AI systems can give pupils individualised feedback and encouragement, boosting their motivation and self-esteem. Students can benefit from a more efficient and tailored learning experience with the use of AI tools in education, which will improve their academic results.

10. Gaming: AI tools can be used to create more realistic and engaging gaming experiences, improving user satisfaction and increasing revenue.

Gaming: Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be utilised to develop more realistic and compelling gaming experiences, boosting user pleasure and income. With the help of these tools, game experiences may be tailored and difficulty settings can be changed to reflect player competence. Moreover, AI techniques can make gaming landscapes and people more lifelike, enhancing immersion and engagement. Game makers can produce more popular and lucrative games while enhancing the user experience by integrating AI techniques in their work.

Click here for some AI Tools

[etiennekissborlase]

Meme Coins Madness: 114 Scams Exposed By Savvy Blockchain Investigators

Meme Coins Madness: 114 Scams Exposed By Savvy Blockchain Investigators https://bitcoinist.com/meme-coins-114-scams-exposed/ Scammers are increasingly exploiting the popularity of meme coins for personal gain, leaving cryptocurrency investors vulnerable. A single individual has been identified as the brains behind the release of 114 questionable meme coins in just two months, according to reports. ZachXBT, along with other internet sleuths, discovered that only one person was responsible for 114 meme coin frauds. The wallet address in question is 0x739c58807B99Cb274f6FD96B10194202b3EEfB47, and the same deposit address is used each time funds are taken. Meme Coins Scam Detected After tracing all the coins, he discovered that the fraudsters had effectively amassed these cryptocurrencies while remaining relatively concealed by employing multiple alternative wallet addresses and dividing the proceeds. Over the past 1.5 months one person has created 114 meme coin scams. Each time stolen funds from the scam are sent to the exact same deposit address. 0x739c58807B99Cb274f6FD96B10194202b8EEfB47 pic.twitter.com/uwVAiG9WGG — ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 26, 2023 ZachXBT explained in a Twitter thread published on April 26 that he tracked each scam’s funds to the same deposit address. Meme coins are digital currencies inspired by internet memes or jokes and typically lack significant utility or long-term applications. On Social Media Hype And Value The value of these coins is largely determined by social media hype and conjecture, as they typically have no practical use or underlying value. “I suspect there are others as well. These are simply coins sent to that deposit address hahaha,” ZachXBT responded to a comment. A Twitter user named Lucrafund also conducted some research, posting a screenshot on the thread that revealed the “criminal mastermind” had sent a portion of the stolen funds to a Coinbase address, effectively revealing a crucial personal identifier. This wallet has launched 2-5 memecoin rugs daily for almost 2 years straight: 0xCc16D5E53C1890B2802d5441d23639CAc6cd646F These devs have incredible hustle. Make sure you label it on Etherscan so you don’t line their pockets with your money Absolute insanity. pic.twitter.com/ffNQ4sTGls — Guru (@CoinGurruu) April 26, 2023 Another Twitter user by the name of CoinGurruu identified an additional wallet address – 0xCc16D5E53C1890B2802d5441d23639CAcd644F – that allegedly launched two to five meme coin rugs per day for nearly two years. The memecoins were introduced on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) platform, which has become a popular venue for the creation and trading of new cryptocurrencies. However, the platform’s lack of supervision and regulation has made it a primary target for fraudulent activities, such as the dissemination of meme coin scams. The report also emphasizes the fact that the developers of meme coins did not reveal their identities, which casts doubt on their intentions and credibility. This is a common strategy employed by con artists to avoid detection and prosecution. The Tattoo In a separate incident, ZachXBT exposed an additional alleged fraudster involved in the meme coins anomaly, Gabriel Marques (Twitter user NazareAmarga), who allegedly launched a fraudulent memecoin aimed at holders of the legitimate Nakamigos NFT project. Marques was recognized by the wallet address inscribed on his back, which was visible in a social media posting. According to ZachXBT, the wallet address tattooed on Marques, which is visible in an online social media post, was significantly involved in the alleged $110,000 worth of Ether scam. -Featured image from The Dales Report via Bitcoinist.com https://bitcoinist.com April 28, 2023 at 12:41PM

[seniordatingservice]

With the development of the Internet and social networking platforms, senior dating has become an important way for more and more older people to make friends and find a partner. However, this form of dating also risks scammers taking advantage of older people's trust and emotional needs to commit fraud. Therefore, knowing the right way to deal with the dangers is important.

1. Be vigilant and verify your identity: When establishing contact with strangers, do not readily divulge personal information such as your home address, phone number or bank account. Confirm the identity of the other party through video calls or third-party verification, and do not blindly trust the information provided by the other party.

2. Beware of money traps: Fraudsters often use emotions to gain trust and then make up reasons to request money transfers, such as “urgent need for funds” or “unexpected circumstances”. If money is involved in the request, you should be alert immediately and discuss the matter with your family or friends.

3. Avoid meeting alone: When meeting someone for the first time, choose a public place and notify family and friends of the time and place of the meeting to ensure safety. Try to avoid meeting each other alone without security.

4. Keep evidence and seek help: If you suspect you have been cheated, promptly keep evidence such as chat records and transfer vouchers and report the case to the police. You can also consult professional institutions or organizations for support to avoid further losses.

5. Use the power of family and friends: Share your dating situation with your family and listen to their advice more often. Their advice and companionship may become the strongest protective barrier in times of potential danger.

By being vigilant and taking proper precautions, seniors can enjoy senior dating more safely and avoid falling into the traps.

[swiftproxy]

Secure Your PayPal Account: Avoiding Proxy Risks

With the acceleration of globalization and the booming e-commerce, PayPal, as an international leading online payment platform, is deeply loved by users. However, in some cases, users may need to use a proxy to access their PayPal account, which may bring additional security risks to a certain extent. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand and take measures to avoid these risks. This article will discuss in detail how to reduce security risks by using a proxy when using a PayPal account.

1. Choose a trustworthy proxy service

Give priority to regular, well-known proxy service providers, and avoid using proxy services from unknown sources or free services to reduce the risk of malicious attacks.

Check the privacy policy and security statement of the proxy service to ensure that they meet high standards of security practices and data protection requirements.

‌2. Strengthen account security settings

Before using a proxy to access PayPal, make sure that your PayPal account has advanced security measures such as two-factor authentication enabled.

Change your password regularly and use a strong password policy that includes a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters to increase the difficulty of cracking.

‌3. Pay attention to the stability and compatibility of the proxy

Choose a proxy service with excellent stability and speed to avoid connection interruptions or data loss caused by proxy instability.

Make sure that the proxy is compatible with the PayPal website to avoid abnormal operations or security risks due to incompatibility.

‌4. Stay vigilant, identify and prevent fraud

Be highly alert to any suspicious emails and messages sent through the proxy, and do not easily click on links or download attachments.

If you suspect that your account has been stolen or there is abnormal activity, contact PayPal customer service through official channels immediately and freeze the account funds in time.

‌5. Set up network environment and equipment properly‌

Use a secure network environment to surf the Internet, such as the internal network of your home or company, and reduce the use of proxies to access sensitive accounts on public Wi-Fi.

Regularly update security software and operating system patches for devices such as computers and mobile phones to enhance defense against malware and virus attacks.

6. Backup and recovery strategy‌

Regularly back up important data in your PayPal account to ensure that it can be quickly restored in case of data loss or tampering. Prepare an emergency response plan to clarify the response measures and processes in the event of security issues.

Conclusion‌

Although using a proxy to access a PayPal account can bring certain convenience and privacy protection, it also comes with certain risks and challenges. Users should carefully choose proxy services during use, pay attention to privacy protection and account security, and solve possible problems in a timely manner. Through the explanation of this article, I hope to help users use PayPal accounts for online payments more safely and effectively.

[nithya-r]

Your Complete Guide to Filing and Tracking Cyber Crime Complaints in India

As our lives become more digital, cybercrimes—like online fraud, identity theft, and cyber harassment—are on the rise. To help victims, the Indian government has created the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, which makes reporting cybercrimes easier and safer.

Here’s a simple guide on how to recognize cybercrime, file a complaint, and stay protected with cybercrime lawyer.

What is Cybercrime?

Cybercrime involves using internet-connected devices to commit crimes like:

Phishing: Scammers pretend to be trustworthy to steal personal info.

Identity Theft: Criminals use your identity for fraud.

Cyberstalking: Online harassment or intimidation.

Online Financial Fraud: Unauthorized transactions from accounts.

Ransomware: Locking data until a ransom is paid.

Identifying the type of cybercrime helps in filing the right complaint.

What is the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal?

The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) is an online platform by the Indian government that makes reporting cybercrimes simple.

Key Benefits:

Accessible: File a complaint from anywhere with internet access.

Secure: Your info stays confidential, especially in sensitive cases.

Convenient: No police station visit required; file from home.

Trackable: Each complaint gets a unique ID for progress tracking.

Step-by-Step Guide to Filing a Cybercrime Complaint

Here’s how to file a complaint:

Step 1: Choose the Type of CybercrimeThe portal has two categories:

Cyber Crimes Against Women and Children: Covers harassment, stalking, etc.

Other Cyber Crimes: For fraud, hacking, identity theft, etc.

Step 2: Gather EvidenceEvidence is crucial. Collect:

Screenshots of any messages or websites involved.

Transaction Receipts if financial fraud is involved.

Email Headers if the crime was by email.

Chat Logs if harassment happened on social media.

Step 3: Visit the National Cyber Crime Reporting PortalGo to cybercrime.gov.in. The site is user-friendly.

Step 4: File Your ComplaintOnce on the portal:

Select the Cybercrime Type: Pick the category that matches your issue.

Citizen Login: Log in; if new, register with your email and phone number.

Agree to Terms: Read and accept them to continue.

Step 5: Fill Out the Complaint FormThe form will ask for basic info, details of the crime, and, if known, suspect details.

Step 6: Confirmation and TrackingAfter submitting, you’ll get a unique complaint ID. This ID is for tracking your case, so keep it safe.

Other Ways to Report Cybercrime

If the portal isn’t an option, you can:

Visit a Local Police Station: File a First Information Report (FIR).

Contact a Cyber Crime Cell: Major cities have cybercrime units.

Cybercrime Helpline (1930): Call for urgent help or ongoing incidents.

Important Documents for Your Complaint

Attaching key documents helps your case. Include:

Identity Proof: Aadhaar card or passport.

Address Proof: Utility bill or rental agreement.

Proof of Fraudulent Transactions: Bank statements or screenshots.

Relevant Communications: Attach related emails or messages.

What to Expect After Filing

After filing:

Acknowledgement: You get a tracking ID.

Investigation: Investigators may contact you for more info.

Resolution: Authorities may recover funds, offer legal advice, or take further action based on the case complexity.

How Zolvit Can Assist You

If you’re overwhelmed by the process, Zolvit can help. We provide:

Legal Guidance: Clear advice tailored to your case.

Document Help: Assistance in organizing and submitting key documents.

Complaint Tracking: We help keep you updated on progress.

Legal Representation: If your case requires it, we’ll represent you in court.

Facing cybercrime is tough, but with Zolvit, you have support every step of the way.

[ejesgistnews]

Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines online Today Thursday, October 3, 2024. What are the top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines for Today?  Staying updated on the latest developments in Nigeria is essential, especially in today's fast paced world. Here are the top 10 Nigerian newspaper headlines for October 3, 2024, that capture the most significant news across the country.   From breaking stories to in depth analyses, these headlines reflect the top news in Nigeria this morning. Whether you're interested in politics, business, or social issues, these latest Nigerian newspaper headlines will keep you informed. Dive into the top stories in Nigeria today and stay ahead with the latest updates.   The latest Nigerian Newspaper headlines for Today. Here are the detailed top 10 latest Nigerian newspaper headlines for today, October 3, 2024: Politics and Governance 1. President Tinubu Departs for UK on Annual Leave: President Bola Tinubu has left Nigeria for a two-week holiday in the United Kingdom. The trip is part of his annual vacation and is expected to provide him with a much-needed break from the demanding duties of office. 2. House of Representatives Rejects CFR Honour for Speaker Abbas: Lawmakers have rejected the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) for Speaker Tajudeen Abbas. The decision was based on concerns about the Speaker's performance in office and his alleged involvement in various controversies. 3. Politics Involved in Naira Redesign, Says Ex-CBN Deputy Governor: Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Folashodun Shonubi, has claimed that political influence was involved in the naira redesign. He alleged that the policy was not solely driven by economic considerations but was also influenced by political motives. Nigerian Newspaper headlines for Today on Economy and Finance 4. ICPC Recovers ₦13 Billion in Diverted Funds: The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has announced the recovery of over ₦13 billion in September. The funds were reportedly diverted from various government agencies and projects. 5. Banks Warn Customers Against Fraud Amid Service Disruptions: Zenith Bank and First Bank have cautioned customers about fraudsters taking advantage of ongoing service disruptions. The banks have urged customers to be vigilant and avoid clicking on suspicious links or sharing personal information with unknown individuals. 6. AfDB Urges Adoption of Technology for Food Security: The Africa Development Bank has advocated for the adoption of technology to boost agricultural productivity and ensure food security. The bank has highlighted the importance of using modern technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology to improve farming practices and reduce food waste. Crime and Security 7. EFCC Arrests 33 Suspected Internet Fraudsters in Rivers: The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested 33 individuals suspected of internet fraud in Rivers State. The suspects were arrested in connection with various online scams, including romance scams, investment fraud, and phishing attacks. Infrastructure and Development 8. Senate Summons Minister Over Deteriorating Oyo-Ogbomosho Road: The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has been summoned by the Senate to address the poor condition of the Oyo-Ogbomosho road. The road has been in a state of disrepair for several years, causing significant inconvenience to motorists and commuters. Social and Cultural 9. Rivers Governor Declares Public Holiday for LG Elections: Governor Siminalayi Fubara has declared a two-day public holiday ahead of local government elections in Rivers State. The holiday is intended to allow residents to participate in the elections without any hindrance. Sports 10. Lookman Shines in Atalanta’s Champions League Win: Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman has scored and provided an assist in Atalanta's 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk. The victory has boosted Atalanta's chances of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

That is all for today on Nigerian Newspaper Headlines. Click here more Naija News Today. Nigerian Newspaper Headlines photo file

[ziamalikindia]

What happens when a Zelle payment failed?

Zelle is a convenient and widely used digital payment network that allows users to send and receive money directly from their bank accounts. Unlike other payment methods, Zelle offers near-instantaneous transactions, making it a preferred choice for many. However, despite its efficiency, users occasionally need help with successful transactions, which can lead to confusion and concern.

When a Zelle payment failed, it can be due to a variety of reasons ranging from technical glitches to user errors. Understanding the root cause of the failure is crucial in resolving the issue and ensuring seamless future transactions. In this blog, we will explore the common causes of why Zelle payment failed, provide troubleshooting tips, and answer frequently asked questions to help you navigate these challenges with ease.

Common Reasons Why Your Zelle Payment Failed

1. Incorrect Recipient Information

One of the most common reasons for a failed Zelle payment is entering incorrect recipient information. Zelle payments require the recipient's email address or mobile number linked to their Zelle account. If this information is incorrect or outdated, the payment will not go through.

Fix: Double-check the recipient’s details before sending the payment. Ensure that the email address or mobile number is correct and associated with a Zelle account. If you're unsure, confirm the details with the recipient.

2. Insufficient Funds

Zelle transactions draw funds directly from your linked bank account. If your account has insufficient funds to cover the payment, the transaction will fail.

Fix: Verify your account balance before initiating a Zelle payment. Ensure that you have enough funds in your account to complete the transaction. If necessary, transfer funds into your account before trying again.

3. Bank Restrictions

Some banks have restrictions or limits on the amount you can send via Zelle. These limits can vary based on your bank’s policies and your account type.

Fix: Check with your bank to understand the Zelle transaction limits. If you need to send a large amount, you may need to split the payment into smaller transactions or use an alternative payment method.

4. Network Issues

Occasionally, network or technical issues can cause Zelle payments to fail. This can be due to problems with Zelle’s servers, your bank’s servers, or your internet connection.

Fix: If you suspect a network issue, try again later. Ensure that you have a stable internet connection and that Zelle’s and your bank’s services are operational. You can check your bank’s website or contact their customer service for updates on any outages or technical problems.

5. Account Verification Problems

Zelle requires that both the sender and the recipient have verified accounts. If either party’s account is not properly verified, the payment will not go through.

Fix: Verify that both your account and the recipient’s account are set up correctly and fully verified. This typically involves confirming your email address or mobile number through a code sent by Zelle. Follow the verification steps provided by Zelle or your bank.

6. Security Concerns

For security reasons, Zelle and banks monitor transactions for unusual or potentially fraudulent activity. If a payment is flagged as suspicious, it may be blocked or delayed.

Fix: If your payment is flagged, you may need to confirm the transaction with your bank or Zelle. Contact your bank’s fraud department or Zelle customer support to verify your identity and the legitimacy of the transaction.

What to Do When Your Zelle Payment Fails but Money is Taken?

There are instances where your Zelle payment failed but money taken. This situation can be particularly stressful. Here’s what you should do:

Check Your Transaction History: Verify the transaction status in your bank account and Zelle activity log. Sometimes, failed transactions are automatically reversed, and the funds are returned to your account.

Contact Your Bank: If the money has been debited but the payment has failed, contact your bank’s customer service. Please provide them with the transaction details and request an investigation.

Reach Out to Zelle Support: You can also contact Zelle customer support for assistance. They can help you understand the issue and work with your bank to resolve it.

Wait for Automatic Reversal: In many cases, if a Zelle payment fails. Still, the money is taken, and the amount is usually credited back to your account within a few business days. Monitor your account for any updates.

FAQs

Q1: What happens when a Zelle payment fails?

When a Zelle payment failed, the transaction does not go through, and the money is not transferred to the recipient. You may receive an error message indicating the failure, and in some cases, the funds might be temporarily held or debited from your account.

Q2: Why did my Zelle payment fail, but the money was taken?

If see Zelle failed payment but the money is taken, it could be due to a processing error or technical glitch. The funds are usually credited back to your account within a few business days. Contact your bank and Zelle support for further assistance.

Q3: How can I prevent Zelle payment failures in the future?

To prevent Zelle payment failures, ensure that you have sufficient funds in your account, verify recipient information, check for bank transaction limits, and maintain a stable internet connection. Additionally, keep your account information up to date and promptly address any verification or security concerns.

Q4: Can I cancel a Zelle payment after it has been sent?

Once a Zelle payment is sent, it cannot be canceled if the recipient is already enrolled in Zelle. However, if the recipient is not enrolled, you can cancel the payment through your bank’s mobile app or online banking portal.

Q5: What should I do if my recipient hasn’t received the Zelle payment?

If your recipient hasn’t received the Zelle payment, ask them to check the email or mobile number associated with their Zelle account. Ensure that the details are correct. If the issue persists, contact Zelle support for assistance.

Conclusion

Experiencing a failed Zelle payment can be inconvenient, but understanding the common causes and solutions can help you quickly resolve the issue. By ensuring accurate recipient information, sufficient funds, and adherence to bank policies, you can minimize the chances of encountering payment failures. Always stay informed about your bank’s guidelines and keep your account details up to date. If problems arise, don’t hesitate to reach out to your bank and Zelle support for prompt resolution.

[venmoappsreview]

How to Resolve a Declined Payment on Venmo

When using Venmo, a declined payment can be frustrating, especially if you're not sure why it happened or how to fix it. Understanding the common reasons and solutions can help you avoid disruptions and ensure smoother transactions. Here’s a detailed guide on why your Payment Declined Venmo and how to fix these issues.

Top 5 Reasons Your Venmo Payment Might Be Declined

Sure! Here are the top five reasons why your Venmo Payment Declined:

Insufficient Funds: The most common reason for a declined payment on Venmo is insufficient funds in your linked bank account or Venmo balance. Before making a payment, always check your account balance to ensure you have enough funds to cover the transaction.

Venmo Account Verification Needed: Venmo requires users to verify their identity to help protect against fraud and comply with regulatory requirements. If your account is unverified, you might face limitations that can lead to declined transactions. Completing the verification process involves providing your Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, and address.

Violation of Venmo’s User Agreement: Venmo monitors transactions for activities that violate their user agreement. This includes payments related to banned goods or services, such as firearms, gambling, and drugs. If Venmo suspects that a transaction may be in violation, it will decline the payment.

Technical Issues: Sometimes, issues with Venmo’s servers or problems with your internet connection can lead to transaction failures. This might appear as if your payment has been declined due to a fault on your end or Venmo’s.

Bank or Card Issues: If there’s a problem with the bank or card linked to your Venmo account, such as a frozen account or an expired card, Venmo will decline the transaction. Regularly update your card details and stay informed of any issues with your bank that might affect transactions.

How to Fix a Venmo Declining Payment

To fix a Venmo declining payment, follow these steps:

Ensure Sufficient Funds: Always make sure you have enough funds in your Venmo balance or linked bank account before initiating a transaction. Consider setting up alerts with your bank to monitor your balance.

Verify Your Venmo Account: Complete your account verification by going into the Venmo app settings and following the instructions under ‘Identity Verification’. This process not only resolves declining payments due to verification issues but also enhances the security of your account.

Check Venmo’s User Agreement: Familiarize yourself with the terms of Venmo’s User Agreement to ensure your transactions comply with their policies. If your payment was declined due to a policy violation, review what might have triggered the decline and adjust your usage accordingly.

Resolve Technical Issues: If you suspect a technical issue, try restarting the Venmo app or reinstalling it. Check your internet connection, or try switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data to establish a stable connection.

Update Bank and Card Information: Keep your linked bank account or card information up to date. If your card has expired or your bank account details have changed, update this information in Venmo to prevent declines.

Contact Venmo Support: If you’ve checked all the above and your Venmo payment is still being declined, contact Venmo Support for help. They can provide specific information related to your account and the declined transaction.

By understanding these common pitfalls and solutions, you can enhance your Venmo experience, ensuring that your transactions proceed smoothly and without unnecessary declines. Always keep your app updated and monitor your account for any alerts or messages from Venmo regarding your payment activities.

[laocommunity]

Unleashing the Dark Side: The Terrifying Truth About "Predator" Android Malware and Its 5 Devastating Exploits!

Unleashing the Dark Side: The Terrifying Truth About "Predator" Android Malware and Its 5 Devastating Exploits! Unleashing the Dark Side: The Terrifying Truth About "Predator" Android Malware and Its 5 Devastating Exploits! The world of technology is constantly evolving, and with each advancement, new threats emerge. One such threat is the "Predator" Android malware, which has been wreaking havoc on mobile devices around the world. In this article, we will explore the terrifying truth about this malware and its five devastating exploits. What is "Predator" Android Malware? "Predator" Android malware is a form of malicious software that targets Android devices. It is a type of Trojan malware that disguises itself as a legitimate app and then infiltrates the device. Once it is installed, it can collect sensitive data from the user, such as personal information, banking details and login credentials. Exploit #1: Spyware One of the primary features of "Predator" Android malware is its ability to act as spyware. It can access a user's phone calls, text messages, browsing history, and location data. This information can be used to monitor a user's activity, track their movements, and even steal their identity. Exploit #2: Rootkit "Predator" Android malware also has the ability to act as a rootkit. This means that it can gain access to the deepest levels of the device's operating system, allowing it to manipulate system files and settings. This can be especially dangerous as it can make it virtually impossible to remove the malware from the device. Exploit #3: Botnet Another powerful feature of "Predator" Android malware is its ability to create a botnet. This means that infected devices can be controlled remotely and used to perform automated tasks, such as sending spam emails or launching DDoS attacks. This can cause significant harm to both the individual device owner and the wider internet community. Exploit #4: Ransomware "Predator" Android malware can also act as ransomware. This means that the malware can encrypt a user's files and demand payment in exchange for the decryption key. This can be incredibly damaging for individuals and organizations alike, as it can lead to a loss of valuable data and significant financial loss. Exploit #5: Ad Fraud Finally, "Predator" Android malware can carry out ad fraud. This involves the malware generating fraudulent clicks on ads, which can lead to increased revenue for the cybercriminals behind the malware. While this may seem like a victimless crime, it can lead to decreased ad credibility and revenue loss for legitimate advertisers. How to Protect Yourself from "Predator" Android Malware Protecting yourself from "Predator" Android malware is essential if you want to keep your sensitive information safe. Some tips for protecting yourself include: - Only download apps from trusted sources such as Google Play Store or Amazon App Store - Keep your device's software up-to-date - Use a reliable antivirus app - Be wary of clicking on unknown links or attachments - Install an ad blocker to prevent ad fraud Conclusion In conclusion, "Predator" Android malware is a serious threat to mobile devices around the world. Its ability to act as spyware, rootkit, botnet, ransomware, and perform ad fraud can have devastating consequences for individuals and organizations alike. By taking the necessary precautions, however, you can protect yourself from this malicious software. FAQs - 1. How does "Predator" Android malware infect a device? - 2. Can "Predator" Android malware be removed? - 3. How can I prevent "Predator" Android malware from infecting my device? - 4. How do cybercriminals behind "Predator" Android malware profit from their activities? - 5. What should I do if I suspect my device has been infected with "Predator" Android malware? #TECH Read the full article

[macmedic-services]

Naviguer en toute sécurité sur internet : Comment reconnaître et éviter les menaces en ligne

Internet est un espace vaste et diversifié où nous interagissons, partageons des informations et effectuons des transactions quotidiennement. Cependant, cet environnement en ligne n'est pas exempt de menaces potentielles telles que les cyberattaques, le phishing, les logiciels malveillants et autres formes de fraude en ligne. Pour naviguer en toute sécurité sur internet, il est essentiel de connaître les menaces courantes et de prendre des mesures pour les éviter. Dans cet article, nous vous présenterons des conseils pratiques pour reconnaître et éviter les menaces en ligne, afin que vous puissiez profiter d'une expérience en ligne sûre et sécurisée.

1. Utilisez des mots de passe forts :

Les mots de passe sont la première ligne de défense pour protéger vos comptes en ligne.

Assurez-vous d'utiliser des mots de passe forts, qui combinent des lettres majuscules et minuscules, des chiffres et des caractères spéciaux.

Évitez d'utiliser des mots de passe évidents tels que "motdepasse" ou "123456", et ne réutilisez pas le même mot de passe pour plusieurs comptes.

Utilisez plutôt un gestionnaire de mots de passe pour stocker en toute sécurité vos identifiants.

2. Méfiez-vous des e-mails et des liens suspects :

Le phishing est une technique courante utilisée par les cybercriminels pour voler vos informations personnelles et financières.

Soyez attentif aux e-mails non sollicités ou suspects, en particulier ceux qui demandent des informations sensibles ou vous redirigent vers des liens inconnus.

Vérifiez toujours l'adresse e-mail de l'expéditeur et ne cliquez pas sur les liens douteux.

Si vous avez des doutes sur un e-mail, contactez directement l'expéditeur par un autre moyen pour vérifier son authenticité.

3. Mettez à jour vos logiciels régulièrement :

Les mises à jour logicielles contiennent souvent des correctifs de sécurité pour combler les vulnérabilités connues.

Assurez-vous de maintenir à jour vos systèmes d'exploitation, navigateurs, applications et logiciels de sécurité pour bénéficier des dernières protections contre les menaces en ligne.

4. Utilisez un logiciel antivirus et antimalware :

Installez un logiciel antivirus fiable sur votre ordinateur et vos appareils pour détecter et bloquer les logiciels malveillants, les virus et les programmes indésirables.

Les solutions de sécurité complètes offrent une protection en temps réel contre les menaces en ligne et vous avertissent en cas de comportements suspects.

5. Faites attention aux réseaux Wi-Fi publics :

Les réseaux Wi-Fi publics sont souvent moins sécurisés que les réseaux privés.

Évitez de vous connecter à des réseaux Wi-Fi publics non sécurisés pour effectuer des transactions bancaires ou accéder à des informations sensibles.

Si nécessaire, utilisez un réseau privé virtuel (VPN) pour sécuriser vos communications en ligne.

6. Vérifiez la sécurité des sites web :

Lorsque vous entrez des informations personnelles ou financières sur un site web, assurez-vous qu'il utilise une connexion sécurisée.

Recherchez "https://" dans l'URL du site, ce qui indique que la connexion est chiffrée et sécurisée.

Évitez de saisir des informations sensibles sur des sites non sécurisés.

7. Soyez prudent avec les réseaux sociaux :

Les réseaux sociaux peuvent être un terrain fertile pour les cyberattaques.

Faites attention aux messages privés d'inconnus et évitez de partager des informations personnelles sensibles en public.

Limitez les informations accessibles au public et utilisez les paramètres de confidentialité pour contrôler qui peut voir vos publications.

Naviguer en toute sécurité sur internet demande une vigilance constante et une connaissance des menaces potentielles. En suivant ces conseils, vous serez mieux équipé pour reconnaître et éviter les menaces en ligne, et ainsi protéger vos informations personnelles et financières. Restez informé des dernières pratiques de sécurité et adoptez des habitudes en ligne responsables pour une expérience internet sûre et sécurisée.

[07068396803-tt]

EFCC arrests 5 internet fraud suspects in Kano

EFCC arrests 5 internet fraud suspects in Kano

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested five internet fraud suspects in Kano. The Commission in a tweet on its verified tweeter handle on Wednesday said its operatives in the Kano Zonal Office effect the arrest. Solacebase reports that the suspects are: Abdulaziz Shamsuddeen Umar, Adamu Sufiyan, Abdulsamad Abdulaziz, Mustapha Musa, and Suleiman Alexander Adeiza. Read…

[marleahsblogs]

✨ Internet Safety ✨

For our generation today, the internet is probably the safest place to be in. People can be whoever they want, express whatever they want, and enjoy themselves however they want. I must admit, I would also say that I couldn’t live without the internet. Internet is just the solution to every problem, right? Now, we can even earn money in the comfort of our rooms with the help of the internet. Should we spend hours travelling just to buy stuff? Nah, we got the internet! With just several clicks we can already make an order and just wait on our couch to receive it. Oh no, COVID-19 ruled the world! No worries, we are backed up by the internet. Online classes, online transactions, online dating. You name it. The internet is there for us, or is it? Is it our safe haven?

We have put so much trust in the internet, but we didn’t know it can also be our biggest predator. Online transactions were fun until you got scammed and lost all your money. Online dating them feel loved until the person they were talking to is a catfish. Streaming online made him famous and rich, until his account got hacked. And there are still millions of stories out there that should awake us from believing that the internet is the safest thing in the world.

Below are some possible dangers you could encounter online.

1. Cyberbullying

I’m sure many of you have heard of this. But even though we are fully aware of it, it is still one of the major problems until now. As we casually scroll in our social media feeds, it is already normal for us to see people making fun of or “bashing” other people. It became so prevalent that we could call it a normal thing. According to UNICEF (2019), one in three young people has said that they have been a victim of cyberbullying and that it affected almost half of the Filipino children aged 13-17. We need to know that even a single word like “tanga” or “bobo” we see in our social media platforms and online gaming worlds could affect or traumatize us greatly.

2. Data Being Stolen

Some people nowadays are getting better at doing this. They can steal your money from your accounts, apply for a loan or credit card using your name, or sell your information to an online criminal as well. The hidden website is packed with criminals who purchase and sell stolen personal data. If your data is stolen, you can experience spam attacks. But most of these data thefts try to steal sensitive information, such as your credit card or personal information to commit identity theft.

3. Exposure to Inappropriate Material

Another risk especially for children and teenagers are exposure to inappropriate materials that are sexual, hateful, or violent. The chance and probability for children to look at anything inappropriate rely on how much they do online as they get more active online at a younger age. Whether it's a free-time graphic pop-up commercial, children's cartoon characters in adult circumstances or a self-harm forum, an innocent search might expose these children to contents that make them feel puzzled and angry. Some of the inappropriate content includes pornographic material, content containing swearing, sites that encourage racism, violence, terrorism, or even suicide, sexism sites, or gambling sites, and so on.

Based on my own experiences, here are some tips I would like to share to you to look after your privacy and secure your internet safety:

1. Keep your software up-to-date

Not only will you get a better program experience, but you will also be able to iron out your security issues. But the reason why you must keep it updated is that hackers are fast enough to become aware of certain software’s vulnerabilities, thus could harm your computer system and personal data. If you avoid doing these updates, you are bound to face persistent bugs, data loss, malware infection, and of course security issues.

2. Update your passwords

Why do we need to constantly change our passwords? So that we can reduce the risk of other people having access to our accounts, thus corrupt our personal data. Using strong passwords is necessary for us to prove our identity in our accounts, websites, or our computer itself (Wright, 2021). My tip in creating passwords is random characters with a symbol, number, and at least one capital letter. The reason for this is that using weak passwords, such as patterns of letters and numbers, or simply your name and some important date you know can cause hackers to guess and open your account, hence impersonate you to commit fraud and other crimes.

3. Use two-factor authorization

Familiar with this term? Yes, a two-factor authorization (2FA) is an extra step to keep your accounts more secure and avoid getting hacked by others. One of the most common 2FA methods is one-time codes sent through SMS or email, authenticator apps such as Google Authenticator, and security keys such as U2F tokens (Drozhzhin, 2018). This one for me is the best 2FA authorization because only your private key will confirm your login. If someone will try to log in to your account with the wrong security key, they will not be granted access to your account. So, there you go. A series of two-factor authorizations that will secure your accounts the best way possible. You’re welcome!

4. Be careful what you click on

Have you heard of phishers? They are attackers that send a fraudulent message designed to trick and victimize us into revealing sensitive information to them. As scary as it sounds, we need to be aware of what we click on to avoid experiencing this. Phishing is usually done in an email when they get your email address from somewhere. These phishers try to create a fake website to trick you into typing in your personal information. It’s much easier for them to hack our accounts this way. To avoid this, you can check the URL’s legitimacy by using the Google Transparency Report or simply avoid suspicious emails which require your personal information. Think before you click!

5. Back-up your data

Data back-up and recovery has many advantages. Some of these are protecting and saving your data, provides ease of management, ensures accurate information of your data, quick access to data, scalability, and such (Becker, 2021). There are many other ways to back up your data, but here’s a simple way to manually back up your data in your phone is to open your phone’s settings app, tap system and click backup or search backup in your settings app, then tap back-up now. It’s that simple.

6. Set up notifications for your most important bank accounts

As online bank account holders, it is our responsibility to making sure our accounts are protected. Online accounts are one of the easy targets of hackers to whisk away our money with just a couple of keystrokes. To safeguard our online banking, we may choose an industrial-standard security bank or credit union that utilizes text or e-mail warnings avoids the use of public Wi-Fi access and periodically changes your password.

7. Protect your personal information

This might be difficult for those who like to express themselves on social media, but we must protect our personal identity to avoid any sort of online threats. To protect our identity, we must limit the amount of personal information we share or provide. We shouldn't share or provide this information online: exact home address, your place and schedules of classes or work, birthday, cellphone number, and most importantly our passwords or account information. Another tip is to write down in a small notebook all your passwords and keep them safe in a secure place away from your computer.

8. Use parental controls and stay present

With the pandemic going on right now, parents should be extra careful of what their children see and hear about themselves and who they encounter on the internet. To protect your children from internet risks, talk to them frequently, utilize tools to safeguard them and watch out for their work. Monitor the time of your child, especially the younger ones, about when and how long they stay online. Keep your computer at a central location in your house, where it's easy to watch what your children do and look at online. You may configure them for mobile devices to forget Wi-Fi passcodes for your kids not to go online without knowledge. Review privacy and location settings, parental control and use secure browsers, apps, search engines and YouTube search settings. Lastly, limit camera and video to prevent your children from accidentally taking photos or videos of themselves or others.

The internet does not usually hurt us unless we react to suspect material and websites. The first reason you don't know what you're doing is because of internet damage. Secondly, you may react or click on links such as appealing advertisements, infected software and communications when you have other forces. To ensure internet safety, just remember those tips above and these three things: secure your network, be responsible, and make the internet child-safe.

References:

Becker, D. (2021). 6 Advantages of Data Backup and Recovery. IT Central Station. Retrieved from https://www.itcentralstation.com/articles/6-advantages-of-data-backup-and-recovery

Drozhzhin, A. (2018). SMS-based two-factor authentication is not safe — consider these alternative 2FA methods instead. Kaspersky Daily. Retrieved from https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/2fa-practical-guide/24219/

Wright, J. (2021). Why Is it Important to Change Your Password? Small Business Chron. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/

Online bullying remains prevalent in the Philippines, other countries (2019). Unicef Philippines. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/online-bullying-remains-prevalent-philippines-other-countries

25 Best Internet Safety Tips for Every Situation (2021). The Neeva Team. Retrieved from https://neeva.com/learn/25-best-internet-safety-tips-for-every-situation

[tattooed-alchemist]

It’s what happened to Jews in Germany in 1938 when their passports were declared invalid. That is what is beginning to happen here, now, to Hispanic citizens along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Oh, is it bad to compare the GOP to Nazis? Well, if members of the GOP do not like being compared to Nazis, they should consider not behaving exactly like Nazis.

Hispanic U.S. citizens, some of whom were in the U.S. military, are not being allowed to renew their passports. This is reportedly happening to “hundreds, even thousands” of Latinos, according to a report in the Washington Post. They’re getting letters from the State Department saying it does not believe they are citizens. The government claims their citizenships are fraudulent. “I’ve had probably 20 people who have been sent to the detention center—U.S. citizens,” Jaime Diez, an attorney in Brownsville, told The Washington Post.

The Washington Post also reports on ICE officials coming to citizens' homes and taking their passports away. This is an escalation from a few months ago, when Americans were detained by ICE officials just for speaking Spanish to one another.

The administration is currently launching an effort to take citizenship from people who they suspect of fraud in obtaining it. Fraud in these cases is exceedingly rare. The last time the government tried to strip people of their citizenship was, according to Columbia Professor Mae , during The Red Scare of the 1950s. As Ngai remarks, McCarthyism is not typically remembered as a good period in American history.

There is good reason to believe that this could portend still worse things to come for the U.S. Hispanic population, unless people begin to speak out loudly, and fast.

Edited to Add: English/Spanish legal advice for if you are a Latinx American citizen whose citizenship is being challenged.

And FLOOD YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES WITH YOUR FEELINGS ON THIS SHIT!  Here’s how to do it for free by text.

2nd Edit:  Someone asked “What Can Be Done Abroad?”

Thank you for asking!  

1) Get the word out in your home country’s print and broadcast media and internet.  People in the USA really don’t get how suppressed our press has become and it’s only getting worse by the day.  Part of it is getting any one topic to surface long enough above the churn, which is an intentional tactic being successfully used by the political party in power.

2) The one thing that no one is the USA is not seemingly able to do at all is get attention onto the Republican party as a whole for how complicit they are in all the illegal activity.  If anyone can throw some weight in that direction, it’s an elephant in the room that we REALLY need to get lots of attention on.

3) Support sanctions against the US for our human rights violations.

4) Donate to US groups fighting in the trenches 

https://www.aclu.org/

https://www.hrc.org/

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

http://refusefascism.com/

https://www.splcenter.org/

https://resist.bot/

5) Check how your own country is doing on ethnic minorities and immigration.  Some bad shit is going around.

Edited AGAIN On Sunday November 4, 2018:

1) Black activists are being murdered and no one is reporting it.

http://www.blacklivesmatter.com

2) More tent cities keep going up.  Where do you really think this is going to end?

https://www.afsc.org/action/stop-ice-and-cbp

3) Anti-Semitism in the USA has gone up 60% over the last year.

https://www.adl.org/

4) Native American disenfranchisement ahead of the midterm elections is at an all-time high.  

https://www.narf.org/cases/voting-rights/

NO MATTER WHAT THE RESULTS ARE OF THE 2018 USA MIDTERM ELECTIONS, NONE OF THESE PROBLEMS ARE GOING TO STOP UNLESS WE GET TO WORK STOPPING THEM.

Edited Nov 17, 2018:

More than 14,000 immigrant children are in U.S. custody, an all-time high

from the SF Chronicle 

EDITED ON JULY 30, 2019

It’s now estimated there are upwards of 50,000 humans being held in American concentration camps.  Here’s a map of how many there are now in the US.

https://concentrationcamps.us/

And they are dying.  If history has taught us anything it’s that this is the point of a concentration camp.  It’s very cheap and easy to allow people to die from neglect.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/24-immigrants-have-died-ice-custody-during-trump-administration-n1015291

Legal American citizens,with multiple forms of ID, who ICE spots and decides just don’t look white enough are starting to be arrested and detained with them.  They aren’t allowed to contact anyone once they are picked up.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/25/us/us-citizen-detained-texas/index.html

WHAT TO DO, HOW TO HELP

https://www.neveragainaction.com/

http://www.notonemoredeportation.com/

https://www.raicestexas.org/

https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids-toolkit/

[dodstoldpackage]

Campaign Against Reddit’s Current TOS

Right now, Reddit's TOS does not outline any protections from harassment on their website. Most of their TOS is content and copyright based. While you can report comments as harassment without an account and posts with an account. You cannot report subreddits and all comment and post reports go through subreddit moderators which has allowed subreddits such as r/DIDCringe to continue to thrive. This is not cool and there shouldn't be communities centred around harassment, calling people cringey, and fakeclaiming others. The only mention of attacking others on their TOS is outlined for moderators, telling them not to attack their own members. This does not stop them from running commumities that thrive on the harassment of others.

Because of this, I have made my own change.org petition to combat this.

There is already a petition to get r/DIDCringe taken down, but I am looking for a more permanent solution to the thriving of this and other similar subreddits.

Below are some screenshots of Reddit’s TOS that are important, which you can read in full here.

Below the cut are the Image IDs for those with screen readers.

[Image 1 ID:  6. Things You Cannot Do When using or accessing Reddit, you must comply with these Terms and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Please review the Content Policy (and for RPAN, the Broadcasting Content Policy), which are part of these Terms and contain Reddit’s rules about prohibited content and conduct. In addition to what is prohibited in the Content Policy, you may not do any of the following: Use the Services in any manner that could interfere with, disable, disrupt, overburden, or otherwise impair the Services. Gain access to (or attempt to gain access to) another user’s Account or any non-public portions of the Services, including the computer systems or networks connected to or used together with the Services. Upload, transmit, or distribute to or through the Services any viruses, worms, malicious code, or other software intended to interfere with the Services, including its security-related features.]

[Image 2 ID: Use the Services to violate applicable law or infringe any person’s or entity's intellectual property rights or any other proprietary rights.Access, search, or collect data from the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) except as permitted in these Terms or in a separate agreement with Reddit. We conditionally grant permission to crawl the Services in accordance with the parameters set forth in our robots.txt file, but scraping the Services without Reddit’s prior consent is prohibited.Use the Services in any manner that we reasonably believe to be an abuse of or fraud on Reddit or any payment system.We encourage you to report content or conduct that you believe violates these Terms or our Content Policy. We also support the responsible reporting of security vulnerabilities. To report a security issue, please email security@reddit.com.]

[Image 3 ID:  7. ModeratorsModerating a subreddit is an unofficial, voluntary position that may be available to users of the Services. We are not responsible for actions taken by the moderators. We reserve the right to revoke or limit a user’s ability to moderate at any time and for any reason or no reason, including for a breach of these Terms.If you choose to moderate a subreddit:You agree to follow the Moderator Guidelines for Healthy Communities;You agree that when you receive reports related to a subreddit you moderate, you will take appropriate action, which may include removing content that violates policy and/or promptly escalating to Reddit for review;You are not, and may not represent that you are, authorized to act on behalf of Reddit;You may not enter into any agreement with a third party on behalf of Reddit, or any subreddits that you moderate, without our written approval;You may not perform moderation actions in return for any form of compensation, consideration, gift, or favor from third parties;] [Outlined is: You agree that when you receive reports related to a subreddit you moderate, you will take appropriate action, which may include removing content that violates policy and/or promptly escalating to Reddit for review;]

[Image 4 ID: If you have access to non-public information as a result of moderating a subreddit, you will use such information only in connection with your performance as a moderator; andYou may create and enforce rules for the subreddits you moderate, provided that such rules do not conflict with these Terms, the Content Policy, or the Moderator Guidelines for Healthy Communities.Reddit reserves the right, but has no obligation, to overturn any action or decision of a moderator if Reddit, in its sole discretion, believes that such action or decision is not in the interest of Reddit or the Reddit community.]

[Image 5 ID:  Moderator Guidelines for Healthy CommunitiesEffective April 17, 2017.Engage in Good FaithHealthy communities are those where participants engage in good faith, and with an assumption of good faith for their co-collaborators. It’s not appropriate to attack your own users. Communities are active, in relation to their size and purpose, and where they are not, they are open to ideas and leadership that may make them more active.] [Outlined is:  It’s not appropriate to attack your own users.]

[Image 6 ID:  cringe people on the internet involved with DID in some way. faking or not.[00:57]1. Posts must be on topic The post itself should be cringey and the person must claim to have DID 2. No calls for violence or harassment of people posted 3. No brigading or witch hunting 4. No reposts 5. No self-posts 6. Must be CRINGE content Posting someone you suspect is faking by itself is not cringe and will be removed. They have to actually being doing something cringe. While faking DID can be seen as cringe, these cases are a dime a dozen and not worth posting]

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

A divided nation asks: What’s holding our country together? (AP) Elections are meant to resolve arguments. This one inflamed them. Weeks after the votes have been counted and the winners declared, many Americans remain angry, defiant and despairing. Millions now harbor new grievances borne of President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud. Many Democrats are saddened by results that revealed the opposition to be far more powerful than they imagined. And in both groups there are those grappling with larger, more disquieting realizations: The foundations of the American experiment have been shaken—by partisan rancor, disinformation, a president’s assault on democracy and a deadly coronavirus pandemic. “What is holding our country together?’” wonders Charisse Davis, a school board member in the Atlanta suburbs, where the election has not ended. A pair of Senate runoffs on Jan. 5 will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.

US officials: Suspect in Nashville explosion died in blast (AP) The man believed to be responsible for the Christmas Day bombing that tore through downtown Nashville blew himself up in the explosion, and appears to have acted alone, federal officials said Sunday. Investigators used DNA and other evidence to link the man, identified as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, to the mysterious explosion but said they have not determined a motive. Officials have received hundreds of tips and leads, but have concluded that no one other than Warner is believed to have been involved in the early morning explosion that damaged dozens of buildings and injured three people. In publicly identifying the suspect and his fate, officials disclosed a major breakthrough in their investigation even as they acknowledged the lingering mystery behind the explosion, which took place on a holiday morning well before downtown streets were bustling with activity and was accompanied by a recorded announcement warning anyone nearby that a bomb would soon detonate.

Ex-Military Officers Criticize Spain’s Government (NYT) Earlier this month, 271 former members of Spain’s armed forces used the anniversary of the country’s Constitution to issue a manifesto criticizing the left-wing coalition government and warning that Spain’s unity was under threat. The manifesto was published shortly after chats were leaked to the Spanish news media in which retired air force officers described Gen. Francisco Franco, Spain’s former dictator, as “the irreplaceable one” and gave a thumbs up to the suggestion that left-wing Spaniards be shot. Some of the retired officers also sent letters to King Felipe VI attacking the government led by the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. Although the defense minister and the chief of the armed forces said the statements did not represent the views of the active military, the bold foray into politics by former officers prompted the government to take legal action and worried analysts in a country that was led by a military dictatorship until 1975.

Gibraltar’s border with Spain still in doubt after Brexit (AP) While corks may have popped in London and Brussels over the end to a four-year saga known as Brexit, there is one rocky speck of British soil still left in limbo. Gibraltar, a British colony jutting off the southern tip of Spain’s mainland, wasn’t included in the Brexit trade deal. The deadline for Gibraltar remains Jan. 1, when a transitionary period regulating the short frontier between Gibraltar and Spain expires. If no deal is reached, there are serious concerns that a hard border would cause disruption for the workers, tourists and major business connections across the two sides. More than 15,000 people live in Spain and work in Gibraltar, making up about 50% of Gibraltar’s labor force. The Rock was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has never dropped its claim to sovereignty over it. For three centuries, the strategic outcrop of high terrain has given British navies command of the narrow seaway from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

France and Germany Retake Reins as Britain Leaves EU’s Economic Orbit (WSJ) Britain long played a special role within the European Union, as a nuclear power and permanent United Nations Security Council member that had Washington’s ear. It was also a budget hawk that insisted on keeping the bloc’s spending in check. Some EU officials worried that the U.K.’s exit from the bloc would weaken a union that had been under pressure since Britons voted in 2016 to depart. That vote confronted the EU with the risk of disintegration and strengthened the hand of euroskeptic movements from Italy to Hungary. Instead, as the U.K. prepares to leave the EU’s economic orbit Jan. 1, the EU has regained confidence, helped partly by a revived Franco-German partnership and encouraged by the anticipated arrival of the Biden administration in Washington. Meanwhile, Paris, now the bloc’s dominant foreign-policy actor, is driving debate on everything from relations with Washington and Moscow to expanding the EU’s military capabilities.

Pope formally strips Vatican secretariat of state of assets (AP) Pope Francis has formally stripped the Vatican secretariat of state of its financial assets and real estate holdings following its bungled management of hundreds of millions of euros in donations and investments that are now the subject of a corruption investigation. Francis moved against his own secretariat of state amid an 18-month investigation by Vatican prosecutors into the office’s 350-million-euro investment into a luxury residential building in London’s Chelsea neighborhood and other speculative funds. Prosecutors have accused several officials in the department of abusing their authority for their involvement in the deal, as well several Italian middlemen of allegedly fleecing the Vatican of tens of millions of euros in fees. The scandal has exposed the incompetence of the Vatican’s monsignors in managing money, since they signed away voting shares in the deal and agreed to pay exorbitant fees to Italians who were known in business circles for their shady dealings.

Each year 1,000 Pakistani girls forcibly converted to Islam (AP) Neha loved the hymns that filled her church with music. But she lost the chance to sing them last year when, at the age of 14, she was forcibly converted from Christianity to Islam and married to a 45-year-old man with children twice her age. Neha is one of nearly 1,000 girls from religious minorities who are forced to convert to Islam in Pakistan each year, largely to pave the way for marriages that are under the legal age and non-consensual. Human rights activists say the practice has accelerated during lockdowns against the coronavirus, when girls are out of school and more visible, bride traffickers are more active on the Internet and families are more in debt. While most of the converted girls are impoverished Hindus from southern Sindh province, two new cases involving Christians, including Neha’s, have roiled the country in recent months. The girls generally are kidnapped by complicit acquaintances and relatives or men looking for brides. Sometimes they are taken by powerful landlords as payment for outstanding debts by their farmhand parents, and police often look the other way. Once converted, the girls are quickly married off, often to older men or to their abductors, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Forced conversions thrive unchecked on a money-making web that involves Islamic clerics who solemnize the marriages, magistrates who legalize the unions and corrupt local police who aid the culprits by refusing to investigate or sabotaging investigations.

China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting (Reuters) A Chinese court handed a four-year jail term on Monday to a citizen-journalist who reported from the central city of Wuhan at the peak of last year’s coronavirus outbreak, on grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” her lawyer said. Zhang Zhan, 37, the first such person known to have been tried, was among a handful of people whose firsthand accounts from crowded hospitals and empty streets painted a more dire picture of the pandemic epicentre than the official narrative. Criticism of China’s early handling of the crisis has been censored, and whistle-blowers such as doctors warned. State media have credited the country’s success in reining in the virus to the leadership of President Xi Jinping.

U.S. bolsters support for Taiwan and Tibet, angering China (Reuters) China expressed anger on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law measures to further bolster support for Taiwan and Tibet, which had been included in a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package. China has watched with growing alarm as the United States has stepped up its backing for Chinese-claimed Taiwan and its criticism of Beijing’s rule in remote Tibet, further straining a relationship under intense pressure over trade, human rights and other issues. The Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 and Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 both contain language objectionable to China, including U.S. support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in United Nations bodies and regular arms sales. On Tibet, which China has ruled with an iron fist since 1950, the act says sanctions should be put on Chinese officials who interfere in the selection of the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s successor.

Indonesia bans foreign visitors for 2 weeks over new coronavirus variant (Reuters) International visitors will be barred from entering Indonesia for a two-week period to try to keep out a new potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus, its foreign minister Retno Marsudi said on Monday. The new regulation, effective Jan. 1, comes days after Indonesia banned travelers from Britain and tightened rules for those arriving from Europe and Australia to limit the spread of the new variant. The new regulation applies to all foreign visitors, except for high-level government officials or foreigners with residency permits, she said.

Saudi court jails women’s rights activist for more than five years (Reuters) A Saudi court on Monday sentenced prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul to five years and eight months in prison, her family and media said, after her conviction in a trial that has drawn international condemnation. Hathloul, 31, has been held since 2018 following her arrest along with at least a dozen other women’s rights activists. United Nations human rights experts have called the charges “spurious” and along with leading rights groups and lawmakers in the United States and Europe have called for her release. Rights groups and her family say Hathloul was subjected to abuse, including electric shocks, waterboarding, flogging and sexual assault. Saudi authorities have denied the charges. Hathloul rose to prominence in 2013 when she began publicly campaigning for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia. The main charges against Hathloul, which carried up to a 20-year sentence, included: seeking to change the Saudi political system, calling for an end to male guardianship, attempting to apply for a U.N. job, attending digital privacy training, communicating with international rights groups and other Saudi activists. Hathloul was also charged with speaking to foreign diplomats and with international media about women’s rights in the kingdom.

‘I would never go back’: Horrors grow in Ethiopia’s conflict HAMDAYET, Sudan (AP)—One survivor arrived on broken legs, others on the run. In this fragile refugee community on the edge of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict, those who have fled nearly two months of deadly fighting continue to bring new accounts of horror. At a simple clinic in Sudan, one doctor-turned-refugee, Tewodros Tefera, examines the wounds of war: Children injured in explosions. Gashes from axes and knives. Broken ribs from beatings. Feet scraped raw from days of hiking to safety. On a recent day, he treated the shattered legs of fellow refugee Guesh Tesla, a recent arrival. The 54-year-old carpenter came bearing news of some 250 young men abducted to an unknown fate from a single village, Adi Aser, into neighboring Eritrea by Eritrean forces. He said Ethiopian soldiers beat him and took him to the border town of Humera. There, he said, he was taken to a courthouse he said had been turned into a “slaughterhouse” by militia from the neighboring Amhara region. He said he heard the screams of men being killed, and managed to escape by crawling away at night. “I would never go back,” Guesh said. Such accounts remain impossible to verify as Tigray remains almost completely sealed off from the world.

[johannadc]

Thank you for tagging me @vulpesmellifera ! I’m honored although I feel like a fraud doing this, given my fic writing career of all of six months, but when someone stumbles across this in the future, we can have a good laugh. Or, as I learned from Remington Steele, “years from now, when you talk about this, and you will, be kind.” 

Ao3 Name: trillian_jdc (Out of some sense of wanting a vague anonymity. snerk. That worked well.)

Fandoms: Sherlock, specifically Mystrade, although I got there through Good Omens

Number of fics: 16

1. Fic you spent the most time on: The one I’m writing now, which will be a sequel to Every Dog Has His Day. I am learning a lot as I go, so I actually do rewrite passes now. And struggle more with endings. Or properly, where to end. 

2. Fic you spent the least time on: To Die Hard For. I wrote it while the Mystrade Reading Club watched the movie, so it’s about Greg and Mycroft not watching the movie. (They found other things to do.) 

3. Longest Fic:  Every Dog Has His Day at over 7000 words. They get longer the more I do this and remember to put in things like description. I love dialogue, and I am not naturally a visual thinker, which means I’m great at having characters talk to each other, but I kind of assume readers already know where they are and what they’re wearing. 

As a series, though, Mystrade Cocktails is going to surpass that. The three entries right now total over 6000 words together, and there will be at least two more stories. (I know what they’re drinking the morning after, when that time finally comes. So to speak.) 

4. Shortest Fic:  To Die Hard For. (I wrote more than two things, I promise, but they keep coming up as answers to this quiz.) 

5. Most hits:  The Soulmate Search. My first fic, it was part of an event, so well-promoted, and I think a number of fan friends were being kind in checking it out and encouraging me to continue. There have been two sequels so far (with potentially another to come), so those drive people back to the first as well, I suspect. 

6. Most kudos: Same. 

7. Most comment threads: Every Dog Has His Day. Who can resist Greg as a pooch? Cuddly and fun to speculate on what breeds the other characters might be. Also my first substantial chaptered fic, which likely drove discussion. (Well, my first that I actually posted the rest of the chapters for. Going Viral, you are not forgotten.) 

8. Fave Fic you wrote: I have great fun with building themes around the drinks in the Cocktails series, and I think I managed to capture shy but determined Mycroft being wooed by Greg in that one ... and I loved the imagery of Mycroft sweeping Greg onto the dance floor in Friends in Odd Places (where I also learned one image does not a story make) ... but my personal favorite so far is Through the Looking Glass, and What Greg Found There, because it sums up so much of what I like about that pairing, and I adore the image of Mycroft as an eight-year-old. 

9. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: This question should more be fics I want to finish! I have too much WIP, but I am committed to continuing / completing them. 

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: 

Oh, there are way too many plot bunnies hopping around my notes file. 

My personal challenge is writing light entertainment, since I try, and it comes out angst-y, even though that isn’t my fave to read at all. But the other day I had a super-angst-y idea that I’m toying with for Halloween, in which Mycroft, once Sherlock and John marry, is forgotten by more and more people until he simply fades away. Rosie still notices him, but she’s too young for anyone to pay attention to, and Greg is the only one who feels the tug of something missing. 

I’m hoping I could manage comedy in the idea of Mycroft discovering fanfic, then becoming an internet avenger and eviscerating bad commenters and trolls and the like. 

Another silly one I want to do is based on a photoset, in which Greg is a former male model who got out of the business and became an agent, and Mycroft is a magazine editor who sees one of his old pictures and falls hard. I used to work for a periodical publisher so I think I could manage this fairly well. 

And I’ve partially written one that started out as naughty, with Mycroft sleeping his way across London, and turned instead into a warning and meditation on when affection really means something. 

But WIP gets done first! 

Thanks to anyone who read this far for a rather self-indulgent wallow. Vulpes already tagged many of the same people I would... so leaving aside those on that list, I will add @jessieblackwood and @wastingyourgum and @eventhorizon451, if they want to play. Or anyone else who’s interested! I love seeing people talk about their work.