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Taylor Swift tickets, financial advice from an online-love interest, fake Australia Post delivery messages. These are just three of the most recent examples of scams over which the Australian consumer regulator has issued warnings in recent months.  As of January 24, The National Anti-Scam Centre, had received 273 reports of people being scammed buying Taylor Swift  The Eras Tour  tickets via social media since tickets went on sale in Australia in June 2023. "Australians have lost over $135,000 to this scam so far, with this figure likely to continue to rise," the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said at the time.  It's an issue that is front of mind for the government, which announced a consultation late last year on plans for mandatory industry codes for banks, telcos and digital platforms, such as Meta , "to prevent, detect, disrupt and respond to scams," including by sharing information across sectors....

Diamond Sports Group has put together a plan to emerge from bankruptcy and remain a going concern, helped by a big new streaming deal with Amazon. Amazon has committed to making a minority investment in Diamond Sports Group, one of the largest operators of regional sports networks (RSNs) in the country, as part of Diamond's bankruptcy reorganization plan, the RSN company announced Wednesday. Under the terms of Amazon's investment, the tech giant will enter into a commercial arrangement to provide access to Diamond's services via Prime Video. Prime Video will become Diamond's primary partner through which customers will be able to purchase direct-to-consumer access to stream local Diamond channels. Customers will be able to access all local DTC content, including live MLB, NBA and NHL games, and pre- and post-game programming, for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC rights, through Prime Video Channels. Related Stori...

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Panteleevich and the family name is Mavrodi . Sergei Mavrodi Mavrodi in 2012 Born 11 August 1955 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Died 26 March 2018 (aged 62) Moscow, Russia Known for Russian financial fraudster and previously a deputy of the State Duma Sergei Panteleevich Mavrodi (Russian: Серге́й Пантеле́евич Мавро́ди ; 11 August 1955 – 26 March 2018) was a Russian financial fraudster, financial criminal and previously a deputy of the State Duma. He was the founder of the МММ, a scheme that defrauded millions of people around the globe. In 2007 Sergei Mavrodi was convicted in a Russian court of defrauding 10,000 investors out of 110 million rubles ($4.3 million). [1] [2] [3] Mavrodi claimed he was not the beneficiary of the donations and that he was not used to a flamboyant lifestyle. The charge of which he was la...

The 'mastermind' behind a $15 million scam targeting Spanish speakers in the U.S. used investor dollars to buy a $50,000 Harry Winston engagement ring and a $2.5 million mansion in Prosper, according to a federal government indictment announced Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Mexico-based Aras Investment Business Group S.A.P.I. de C.V, its CEO, and four people involved, with defrauding at least $15 million from more than 450 retail investors across the U.S. Advertisement The financial group allegedly targeted Spanish-speaking investors from March 2020 through November 2021, according to the SEC's complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Aras' CEO Armando Gutiérrez Rosas, or the "mastermind of the fraudulent scheme," according to the complaint, raised money from investors by promising monthly returns of up to 10% by investing in U.S. real estate and mining operations in Mexico. Advertisement Related: Pro...

Have you ever opened a Facebook message from a friend you haven't talked to in years ? You're excited to read their message until you notice the copy-and-paste sales pitch they used to try and rope you into their latest multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme—I mean business . Hard nope. Yeah, you had a great weekend (thanks for asking) but no, you really don't want to join their newest venture or buy the latest and greatest magic potion to grow your eyelashes. Your eyelashes are just fine the way God made them. When you hear "multilevel marketing," maybe you think of essential oils, Tupperware, beauty products or even workout programs and fitness drinks. Or maybe you think of that old friend who only reaches out when they've got something new to sell. Bless their heart. (That's passive-aggressive southern speak for "ugh.") But what is MLM, and does this type of business actually make you any money? Let's find out. ...

Newly released Federal Trade Commission data show that consumers reported losing more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023, marking the first time that fraud losses have reached that benchmark. This marks a 14% increase over reported losses in 2022. Consumers reported losing more money to investment scams—more than $4.6 billion—than any other category in 2023. That amount represents a 21% increase over 2022. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with losses of nearly $2.7 billion reported. In 2023, consumers reported losing more money to bank transfers and cryptocurrency than all other methods combined. "Digital tools are making it easier than ever to target hard-working Americans, and we see the effects of that in the data we're releasing today," said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "The FTC is working hard to take action against those scams." The FTC received fraud reports from 2.6 million consum...

A woman bought a $597 marketing course and quickly realised it's 'a scam'  'Faceless digital marketing' is surging on Instagram and TikTok  Sellers claim to 'helps others make money online' by purchasing courses Read more: How a single mum turned $5 into $17,000 in two years By Carina Stathis For Daily Mail Australia Published: 10:24 EDT, 30 March 2024 | Updated: 19:11 EDT, 2 April 2024 When 23-year-old Gabbriella saw an influx of TikTok videos where people raved about how a digital marketing course 'changed their lives', she was intrigued. Gabby, from Dunedin, New Zealand, would normally scroll past such claims but she also wondered why 'so many people' were saying the 'same thing'. All young women like her, they claimed they were making thousands of dollars.  It got to a point where she decided to ta...