LOOSE CHANGE: AUGUST 25, 2024

In gift card fraud, everybody but the victim makes money: fraudsters, gift card companies and retailers. The criminals exploit a rapidly evolving payments industry that's shrouded in secrecy, designed to ensure easy transactions and lacking in consumer protections.

The technology companies that provide the infrastructure that enables the gift card economy are privately held and release little information publicly. They facilitate payments behind the scenes, out of the view of consumers who see only the brand name of the card and the drugstore or supermarket where they buy it. While retailers who sell gift cards could do more to thwart fraud, the secretive technology companies that set up and manage gift cards are best positioned to stop rampant criminality, but they don't. There's no legal requirement to do so, and they make money off the crime.

When consumers put money on a compromised card, the criminals are alerted because they are monitoring the barcodes using automated online account balance inquiries. They can repeatedly check the balances on thousands of barcodes at a time. As soon as money hits a card, the criminals use the account number to purchase items online or in stores, using runners or mules to physically go into stores.

To read the complete article, see:
Gift card scams generate billions for fraudsters and industry as regulators fail to protect consumers - and how one 83-year-old fell into the ‘fear bubble' (https://theconversation.com/gift-card-scams-generate-billions-for-fraudsters-and-industry-as-regulators-fail-to-protect-consumers-and-how-one-83-year-old-fell-into-the-fear-bubble-236439/)

Paul writes:

The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country's president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.

The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat diamond is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It's the biggest diamond found since 1905.

The as-yet-unnamed diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Officials said it was too early to value the stone or decide how it would be sold. Another smaller diamond from the same mine in Botswana was sold for $63 million in 2016, a record for a rough gem.

This is history in the making, said Naseem Lahri, Botswana managing director for Lucara Diamond Corp., the Canadian mining company that found the diamond. I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.

To read the complete article, see:
The biggest diamond in over a century is found in Botswana — a whopping 2,492 carats (https://www.yahoo.com/news/botswana-says-huge-2-492-091905191.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web