Tag: religion
Pastor Charged with Cryptocurrency Scam
Washington-based Pastor Francier Obando Pinillo has been charged for his involvement in “Solano Fi,” a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment business that Pinillo claims “came to him in a dream.” A pastor in a church based in Pasco, Washington, Pinillo allegedly took advantage of his position to sway members of the congregation to invest in Solano Fi, defrauding over a thousand victims of millions of dollars in what he claimed was a “safe and guaranteed investment.” “Fraudulent investment schemes are not new, but cryptocurrency scams are a new way fraudsters take money from hardworking, honest people,” states US Attorney Vanessa Waldref. The landmark case illustrates how cryptocurrency scams have now become mainstream. Fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes have previously been viewed as the province of highly organized hostile nation-state-backed cybercriminals and shadowy ‘market makers”. But the Pinillo case illustrates how even relatively unskilled crooks are now capable of preying on the greed of unsuspecting investors.
Indian elections targeted by cyber-attacks
India’s current elections have become a prime target for malicious cyber activity on the part of foreign threat actors and independent hacktivist groups. With the results expected to be counted on June 4, the spike in cyber-attacks is a stark warning for other countries such as the US, the UK and the European Union (EU), which are also holding national elections later this year. Cybersecurity company Resecurity reports that the early stages of cyber-attacks have been observed since the launch of an #OpIndia campaign last year. Escalating geopolitical tensions across the globe are now heightening the threat to India at this crucial time, with the number of attacks increasing by nearly 300% following the launch of #OpIsrael, which coincided with heightened online protests in the context of the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis.
Pope calls for global AI regulation in 2024
The New Year is set to start with a call to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) coming from a man whose views are considered by hundreds of millions of people to be infallible. On New Year’s Day, His Holiness Pope Francis is scheduled to issue a stark warning to the governments of the world on the dangers inherent in AI. On January 1, 2024, His Holiness will announce: “Techno-scientific advances, by making it possible to exercise hitherto unprecedented control over reality, are placing in human hands a vast array of options, including some that may pose a risk to our survival and endanger our common home”. Having warned that AI is a threat not to humanity but to the existence of the Planet Earth itself, His Holiness will then exhort “the global community of nations” to urgently adopt a binding international treaty to regulate not only the use of AI, but also its development.