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FBI Says Wire Fraud Scam Sending Millions To China
Trailrunner7 writes "The FBI is warning businesses about an ongoing spate of attacks that are stealing millions of dollars from companies through unauthorized bank transfers to Chinese companies. The fraudulent wire transfers are not a new tactic, but the FBI says the current round of attacks is notable in that virtually all of the transfers are going to shell companies based in China and have cost U.S. businesses $11 million. The FBI said that many of the cases it has seen involve well-known pieces of malware, such as Zeus, SpyEye and others. The amount of money the attackers try to transfer varies from $50,000 up to nearly $1 million."
We said and feared something similar when Japan was on an economic rampage.
China owns a lot of US Debt. That's not the same as owning the US... not yet anyway. China has been playing a lot of dirty money games such as valuing their currency based on US currency which is a very certain way to maintain a trade deficit.
But let's not confuse "chinese government" with "chinese people." They are an interesting set. On one hand, they are the most viciously capitalistic people on the planet. On the other, they live under an oppressive government that claims to be communist but are actually just an abusive bunch of control freaks.
So some clever Chinese people realized that they are pretty much "untouchable" and have decided to perform criminal acts from across the internet. They also know they are likely not to get punished so long as they pay off the right officials in the process. It's how their game is played.
Greetings,
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Xing Liuxian, the son of emperor Xing Liaopeng, hailing from China. Recently my father has passed away leaving a fortune of 10 billion yuan to me and my siblings, however we are unable to receive the full sum inheritance due to recent changes to tax law that would leave us with only 10%. I am seeking an intermediary overseas who would be able to assist us in exploiting a tax loophole which would allow us to inherit the full sum. For these services we would offer you 5% of the full sum, an amount equal to roughly 80 million US dollars. This is not technically illegal however it is in a legal gray area and would be embarrassing to the family if word got out, so if you are able to assist us, please keep this in the strictest confidence.
Regards,
Liuxian
liuxian@xingpalace.cn
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
On the other, they live under an oppressive government that claims to be communist but are actually just an abusive bunch of control freaks.
What's the difference?
What's the difference? Wow. Learn what "communism" is supposed to be. For most people, it is the picture of utopia. Most people are "communist" and don't even realize it. The problem is that communism has never happened in the history of the world and the promise of it has been used to overthrow governments and cultures all over the world and have invariably resulted in oppressive and abusive states like China, the former USSR, Cuba and who knows where else.
Seriously, I invite you to learn what communism is supposed to be. If you spend even a little time learning about that and about human behavior, especially from a sociological perspective, you will see pretty clearly that communism is a huge lie that can never happen because people are involved. Once you have learned those things, you will see the difference. Communism ain't what you think it is.
Dear China,
Please stop or we'll say stop again.
-Barack
Odd that they'd use the term "port city", as these don't sound like major transportation hubs. What's interesting is that all these places they've named are actually places on or near the border of Russia and China, in Heilongjiang Province.
China holds approx 6% of outstanding near term treasury certificates. How you figure they own the US is a mystery.
The way things are going, I figure it's the only way the Chinese can be sure they'll get any return on their investment.
JADBP
Well, there was pretty much always been the concept of the Vanguard.
These are the guys who ram communism down everyone's throats and act as the visionaries to make sure everyone complies with their ideals. The initial implementation pretty much requires force in order to make everyone realize the glorious days to come -- Stalin, Chairman Mao, Pol Pot are examples of this. Look at how they're remembered.
Of course, the reason it's never really worked as advertised is that you replace one set of dictators with another -- you also end up creating a new "middle" class who is comfortable and doesn't want to play, as well as a new ruling class who abuse their privileges.
Communism in the abstract is the nice, happy, utopian situation you describe ... but in order to bring it about, it requires vicious people willing to "break a few eggs". Only after it's become the norm do all of these benefits materialize (which so far, is never). Essentially, the Chinese government are the caretakers of that 'vision'.
Communism is generally implemented by a bunch of people deciding on behalf of everyone else to forcibly put it in place. It hasn't resulted in the goals yet, because it never really seems to get out of its enforcement of ideology stage.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
There are. Protip: the police (and banks) lie.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Because China is at war with the west. It is not just American firms, but Western firms. That includes Canadian, Australian, UK, and all of EU. Everybody thinks that it is in China's best interest to keep us going. Nothing could be further from the truth. You always wiped out an enemies strength when possible to make it easy to invade them later. Ganghis did it. So did Napoleon and the Romans. It works wonders. The real strength of the west has been that we had a mostly diversified and distributed economy amongst us that was impossible to destabilize. Now, China is going for the heart of it.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
It depends. The paper trail is precisely how they will get you, if you piss off the wrong people. It's surprisingly difficult for a corporation to do that, even if it's just a shell corporation.
If we were really interested in no longer funding organized crime, we'd end the idiotic War on (some) Drugs and admit that after decades of trying, it has never accomplished its stated goals and never will. Creating a black market to ensure organized criminals always have a steady revenue stream seems to be the only thing it's managed to do. Wouldn't that also restore some respect for the institution of law, if people could see that laws get repealed as soon as it's obvious that they don't work and aren't going to work? This one is long past that time.
It would be the single most harmful thing we could possibly do to organized criminals everywhere. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it would do more to undermine them than the next ten best ideas put together. As Al Capone found out, there's nothing quite like contraband that many people really want for ensuring an under-the-table revenue stream.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
but a business can and should hire IT people who don't think the whole world begins and ends in Redmond.
We've already been over the subject of user stupidity and that every OS is as insecure as the user many times, but I wanted to note regarding that line.. Most of the time, proprietary products (be it Microsoft or other large companies that cater to businesses) are the only viable choice. For example in browsers IE is the only one that has great support for internal deployment and policies. As a home user you most likely don't care, but if you're ever needed to handle a large amount of business computers you know how much easier IE makes it. Firefox, Chrome, Opera and all are tailored for home users. It doesn't have any policy handling and deploying. Personally I use Opera and wouldn't ever touch IE, but I understand and don't just ignore the reason companies want to use it. And it's not only IE, it's also Windows and many other commercial software.
Seriously, I invite you to learn what communism is supposed to be. If you spend even a little time learning about that and about human behavior, especially from a sociological perspective, you will see pretty clearly that communism is a huge lie that can never happen because people are involved.
The same can be said for Libertarianism. Both belief systems are based on fundamental misunderstandings of human nature: communism is founded on the notion that workers are somehow less corrupt and greedy than the rich and the despised middle class, libertarianism on the concept that humans will somehow behave at all times, in regards to all decisions, in a thoroughly rational manner, based strictly on their own self-interest, particularly where money is concerned. Both are utterly laughable ideas. The first would qualify as charmingly naive, were it not for the millions persecuted, imprisoned, and killed by so-called "communist" regimes that were, at best, merely industrial-grade authoritarianism dressed up in socialist clown suits. (Since there never has been - and never will be - a Libertarian paradise on Earth, the Libertarian delusion actually does qualify for the "charmingly naive" sobriquet.)
Greed and selfishness are permanent features of human nature. Any political theory that denies that fact is predestined to fail. Likewise, humans are stubbornly irrational critters, prone to making decisions for silly, provably-wrong, and/or strictly emotional reasons that wind up being completely contrary to their personal self-interest. And any political theory that studiously turns its pretty head away from THAT fact is, likewise, doomed from the git-go to fail hilariously.
Check out my novel.
Totalitarianism cannot occur in a laissez-faire capitalistic market, by definition.
True, but only insofar as the moment that totalitarian rule starts, it ceases to be a laissez-faire state. There is nothing in laisse-faire capitalism that prevents bad actors from destroying the system, because such measures are called "regulations".
The problem with communism as it's been tried so far is that it hasn't been democratic. Totalitarian communism is just as bad, and bad for the same reasons, as totalitarianism capitalism. What the world needs is democratic communism.
FWIW, Bakunin forsaw the problems with Marxism well before it was ever applied. He famously said "freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality". He was right on both counts.
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