A former Florida tax collector was found to have used public funds to set up a blockchain company. In a report from the Orlando Sentinel, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg billed the Tax Collector’s Office $65,860 to buy computer servers for a company he was setting up called Government Blockchain Systems LLC. Greenberg then reportedly returned the money in a series of checks. Greenberg allegedly billed the Tax Collector’s Office for 20 servers in September 2019, and the next day, the public office cut a check to Government Blockchain Systems. The company, on the other hand, gave the …

Last week, the Bitcoin news was all about lift-off. This week, it’s all about the leveling off. Bitcoin ends the week around $11,400, a fall of about 2.7% over the last seven days. That drop included a correction of $700 in one day so the question now is whether the bullish moment has gone or will Bitcoin push on to $15,000? Its first mission will be to break the resistance at $12,000. Bitcoin failed to do that twice in ten days but consolidated after each failure, which some experts believe is evidence of a continued bull run. MicroStrategy, a publicly-traded …

Over the past four months, the National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC, removed over 300,000 URLs pertaining to fake celebrity-endorsed investment opportunities. More than a half of these sites belonged to fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. Per an announcement published by the NCSC on August 14, an increasing number of these scams utilized fake endorsements from national celebrities, such as Ed Sheeran and Richard Branson. This raised red flags for authorities, prompting the launch of a massive retaliatory campaign. Ciaran Martin, CEO of the NCSC, commented: “These investment scams are a striking example of the kind of methods cyber criminals are …

Law firm JPB Liberty filed a class-action lawsuit in the Federal Court of New South Wales earlier today, targeting Facebook and Google for anti-competitive behavior for banning cryptocurrency advertising in 2018. JPB argues the ban, which was loosened in 2019, killed the initial coin offering (ICO) market and caused severe financial damage to the wider cryptocurrency industry. JPB Liberty CEO Andrew Hamilton said the tech giants had acted as a cartel in launching the crypto ad ban, in order to crush competition from the blockchain sector. The suit has garnered more than $600 million worth of claims from across the …

Users of the Uniswap decentralized exchange could be at risk thanks to a new Google ad. "URGENT WARNING FOR ANYONE USING UNISWAP," crypto influencer and YouTuber, BitBoy, said in an Aug. 11 tweet. Tagging Google's Twitter accounts, he added: "Google you should be ashamed. Whoever runs GoogleAds is FAILING MISERABLY. On YouTube where scammers get ads through and now on your own platform." According to BitBoy, entering a Google search for "UniSwap" returns an advertisement link as one of the first results at times. "When you click that ad, it will take you to a site that looks JUST LIKE …

A new cryptocurrency scam in India is targeting wealthy individuals using a fake mobile app. According to India TV News, cybercriminals are targeting high income individuals across India. Victims receive messages through social media groups asking them to sell and buy Bitcoin through a mobile app. This app, which supposedly acts as a crypto exchange, is actually entirely fraudulent. Once a user’s Bitcoin is deposited on the fake exchange, the scammers stop responding to queries from the victim and disappear. Manan Shah, founder and CEO of Avalance Global Solutions, said that an unidentified man lost over $50,000 while dealing with …

The Polish Financial Supervision Authority, or PFSA, issued a warning on the surge of scammers offering fake crypto investment opportunities, which they claim to be the only authorized investment fund in Poland. The scammers call potential victims by asking them to sell or buy cryptocurrencies through the fake fund, but first, they should send the cryptos to the PFSA compliance team’s wallet to verify the legality of the transactions and then, the regulator clears the payment to be deposited in the unexistent fund. The watchdog has been aggressive towards crypto in the past few years and added the following reminder …

Scammers have conned more YouTube viewers into sending them Bitcoin after hacking several more large verified accounts and posting ‘free giveaway’ videos. According to an Aug. 5 tweet posted by Jon Prosser, his Front Page Tech YouTube channel with 262,000 subscribers was hacked by bad actors who changed the name to “NASA [news]” and began live streaming a fake Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway video featuring SpaceX’s Elon Musk. “Hackers have made $4,000 in Bitcoin so far,” said Prosser. “YouTube tells me I need to fill out a form and wait ‘a few weeks.’” Seven years’ worth of Front Page Tech’s videos …

From performing simple commands on smartphones using Alexa or Siri to high-end technical operations in big tech firms, one thing is sure: Ease is a necessity in the modern human experience. The 21st century has marked a rapid advancement of technology in every aspect of human life and interactions. Despite being around for many decades, the replication of human intelligence in machines — artificial intelligence — has now become popularized. With many tech companies rushing to adopt the technology, the market size is expected to grow to $126 billion in 2025. Similarly, distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies have exceeded everyone’s …

Chinese police have reportedly arrested a group of scammers who launched a faux crypto scheme to recoup their losses after being defrauded by a number of different crypto-related cons themselves. According to an article from the Public Information Network Security Supervision Bureau posted on WeChat earlier today, an investor named Yang created a fake investment scheme after losing around 100,000 yuan (over $14,000) to a crypto MLM project. After teaming up with two other investors who had similarly been deceived by crypto scammers, Yang launched a fake mobile app and a token called "Baiye Chain". Their operation reportedly amassed more …

Multinational tech company Garmin may have paid some or all of a $10 million crypto ransom to hackers who managed to encrypt the firm’s internal network and take down several of its services on July 23. According to an August 1 report from Lawrence Abrams at Bleeping Computer, Garmin’s IT department used a decryptor to regain access to workstations affected by the initial WastedLocker ransomware attack. The malware took down the company’s customer support, navigation solutions, and other online services. The news outlet reported that the existence of such a protocol means “Garmin must have paid the ransom to the …

U.S.-based corporate travel firm CWT paid $4.5 million in a Bitcoin ransom to hackers who stole sensitive files from the company. According to a July 31 report from Reuters, representatives from CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) paid ransomware hackers 414 Bitcoin (BTC) on July 27 — roughly $4.5 million at the time — over two transactions. Blockchain data shows the criminals transferred the funds to a different address within an hour. The attackers said they used Ragnar Locker ransomware to disable access to files on 30,000 computers at the firm and steal sensitive data. They initially demanded $10 million, but …