lowvisioncomputing - Slashdot User

Submission + - How scammers took a Winnipeg town for $430k via bitcoin

Submitted by lowvisioncomputing on Monday December 12, 2022 @01:46PM

lowvisioncomputing writes: The CBC is reporting how a fake company hired money mules to receive payments and convert them to bitcoin.

In early December 2019, the cybercriminals sent a phishing email to multiple people at the municipal office of WestLake-Gladsone, a municipality about 150 kilometres west of Winnipeg, on the southwestern shore of Lake Manitoba.

At least one person clicked on the link, which allowed the hackers to get into the municipality's computers and bank accounts.

But weeks went by and nothing happened, so the municipality didn't report it to the police. It was only after the money disappeared that the municipality discovered the two incidents were connected, said Halashewski.

Court documents say that on Dec. 19, 2019, a person logged into the municipality's bank account and changed the password, along with the personal verification questions.

Over the next 17 days, the cyberattackers added the 18 "employees" hired as payees and began systematically making withdrawals, transferring the money to the employees' credit cards.

Dozens of withdrawals were made, totalling $472,377, according to court documents — a considerable amount for a municipality with an entire annual budget of $7 million.

Those withdrawals weren't discovered until Jan. 6, when Halashewski saw 48 bank transfers — each less than $10,000 — going to unfamiliar accounts.

Maybe cryptocoins should be banned until there is a legit use for them?

Submission + - Class Action Against Epic Games Over Fortnite Authorized

Submitted by lowvisioncomputing on Thursday December 08, 2022 @07:40PM

lowvisioncomputing writes: The CBC is reporting that a class action lawsuit against Epic Games over Fortnite being addictive to children will go ahead.
The suit was first brought to the courts in 2019 by three Quebec parents who claimed that Fortnite was designed to addict its users, many of them children, to the game.

According to the original filing, the plaintiffs say their children exhibited troubling behaviours, including not sleeping, not eating, not showering and no longer socializing with their peers.

According to the filing, one of the children was diagnosed with an addiction by an on-call doctor at a Quebec clinic, or CLSC, in the Lower St. Lawrence region. It also notes that the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized addictive gaming disorder as a disease in 2018.

Jean-Philippe Caron, one of the CaLex Legal lawyers working on the suit, said the case isn't unlike a 2015 Quebec Superior Court ruling that found tobacco companies didn't warn their customers about the dangers of smoking.

"[The game] has design patterns that make sure to always encourage player engagement. You have to understand that children's prefrontal cortices are still developing so that could be part of the explanation for why this game is particularly harmful," he said.

The class action will also discuss in-game purchases, namely cosmetic items — known as skins — and the game's Battle Pass system, which offers expanded rewards as players level up.

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