Man must pay $35,000 in restitution for credit card fraud against Mainers
Miami, Florida, resident Ariel Perez-Calvo, 28, was sentenced Wednesday in US District Court. Perez-Calvo will serve 3 ½ years in federal prison for multiple for multiple counts of identity theft and credit card fraud committed in the state of Maine. According to court records, Perez-Calvo and Roberto Lueje-Rodriguez, 30, of Miami in January 2016 used debit and credit card account numbers belonging to Maine bank customers located in Penobscot, Knox, Hancock, Piscataquis, Franklin, Somerset, Kennebec and Androscoggin counties to make unauthorized purchases totaling more than $35,000.
The investigation into the men’s activities began in 2015 when a Saco police detective noticed there were four unauthorized purchases on his debit card. Perez-Calvo and Lueje-Rodriguez pleaded guilty last year to one count each of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. A sentencing date for Lueje-Rodriguez has not been set. [For more: WFTV9]
Mississippi legislature tackles cargo theft
House Bill 722 and Senate Bill 2184, both that would create a specific offense for cargo theft, are under consideration by the Mississippi legislature. The proposed legislation creates law specific to cargo theft from a railcar, commercial trailer, semitrailer, fifth wheel or container and includes substantial penalties upon conviction.
To help educate the public, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) produced a public service announcement describing the impact of cargo theft and it has been airing on radio and television stations across the nation. NICB urges the Mississippi legislature to pass HB722 and SB2184 to provide law enforcement and prosecutors with the legislation necessary to address the public health threat posed by cargo theft. [For more: Yahoo News]
Not even being hacked can get Americans to change their weak passwords
Skimming, phishing, hacking, ransomware, and spyware and various other cyberattacks are becoming an increasingly common occurrence. Americans seem to understand this …they just don’t care enough to do anything about it. A new survey conducted by the folks at the Pew Research Center has some surprising results. According to the survey of 1,040 US adults, a majority of Americans have experienced some sort of data breach, with credit card fraud being the most common. More than a third have had sensitive information, financial, health, or other personal data, compromised, and 15% have had their social security number compromised.
Americans don’t put much stock in the public or private sector’s capacity to prevent hacks, either. Some 28% expressed a lack of confidence in the federal government’s ability to keep their personal information safe; 24% said the same about social media; 15% about credit card companies, cell service providers and companies they do business with; and 13% about cellphone manufacturers and email providers. And yet, a majority of Americans continue to engage in digital practices that make it easier for hackers to gain access to their info. More than half use (insecure) public Wi-Fi networks on their phones. Forty-one percent share online passwords with friends and family members, 39% use similar passwords across multiple accounts, and 25% use simple easy-to-guess passwords. [For more: Quartz]
Top smartphone likely to get facial recognition technology
Apple is reported to be exploring the possibility of using touch ID along with facial recognition as a two-step authentication for their next release, the iPhone8 The current iPhone is using a capacitive Touch ID technology which uses an existing `under glass’ design. This technology however, cannot be used with the new design that Apple is trying to work with. So the Touch ID will receive an `under panel’ placement, replacing capacitive Touch ID with Optical Touch ID.
Analysts also believe that the fingerprint unlock system will eventually be replaced by a facial recognition system for an enhanced security setup. However, if due to technological difficulties, achieving accurate response isn’t possible, a combination of facial and fingerprint recognition seems highly likely. It’ll be interesting to see whether we get facial recognition on the next iPhone and if it does, will the Android smartphones join the bandwagon? We can only wait and watch. [For more: Economic Times Retail]
Amazon adds ocean freight to the pieces of the shipping puzzle it controls
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Amazon has begun shipping merchandise from china acting as their own logistics provider. Amazon will book cargo space on ships, and transport goods from ship to warehouse, and vice-versa. Previously, Amazon revealed plans to handle more air transport for goods sold via its website through a leasing agreement for Boeing cargo jets dubbed Amazon Prime Air.
The company also handles more of the last mile delivery process on its own via contracted courier services in cities where it offers same-day and Prime Now two-hour shipping. Owning more of its logistics business is a key way for Amazon to help control costs, especially as its business continues to scale. The retailer now owns a dominating percentage of online and overall consumer goods sales, especially in the U.S., which means that it makes sense for it to take on responsibility for ever bigger chunks of that logistics supply chain. [For more: Tech Crunch]
Tostitos’ new party bag knows when you’ve been drinking and will even call you an Uber
Frito-Lay has announced a connected Totstitos “Party Safe” bag that can detect if you’ve been drinking alcoholic beverages and then connects with Uber to get you a ride if you have. In partnership with Uber and Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers, the chipmaker will offer partiers $10.00 off the Uber ride during and after the game on February 5.
The special bag, created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, comes equipped with a sensor connected to a microcontroller calibrated to detect small traces of alcohol on a person’s breath. If any alcohol is detected, the sensor turns red and forms the image of a steering wheel, along with an Uber code and a “Don’t drink and drive” message.
It’s not quite as cool as a Breathalyzer type device, which could warn you if you’ve had too much booze, rather than any at all. (You figure you’d already know the answer to the latter.) But it’s a neat party gimmick that should get people talking—and getting in more Ubers.
“We’re proud to introduce to the world the first bag of chips that gets you home safe,” says Roger Baran, a Goodby Silverstein & Partners creative director. “For a football fan, there is a lot of emotion involved with a game. It’s easy to drink more than you planned. And a lot of times all you need to stop short of driving after drinking is a friend who calls you off. On Sunday of the big game, we want Tostitos to be that friend.” [For more: Ad Week]