A warning too late for a ‘ready, fire, aim’ stimulus plan?

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/new-irs-site-could-make-it-easy-for-thieves-to-intercept-some-stimulus-payments/

New IRS Site Could Make it Easy for Thieves to Intercept Some Stimulus Payments

The U.S. federal government is now in the process of sending Economic Impact Payments by direct deposit to millions of Americans. Most who are eligible for payments can expect to have funds direct-deposited into the same bank accounts listed on previous years’ tax filings sometime next week. Today, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stood up a site to collect bank account information from the many Americans who don’t usually file a tax return. The question is, will those non-filers have a chance to claim their payments before fraudsters do?

… And earlier today, the IRS unveiled a Web site where it is asking those non-filers to provide their bank account information for direct deposits.

However, the possibility that fraudsters may intercept payments to these individuals seems very real, given the relatively lax identification requirements of this non-filer portal and the high incidence of tax refund fraud in years past. Each year, scam artists file phony tax refund requests on millions of Americans, regardless of whether or not the impersonated taxpayer is actually due a refund. In most cases, the victim only finds out when he or she goes to file their taxes and has the return rejected because it has already been filed by scammers.

In this case, fraudsters would simply need to identify the personal information for a pool of Americans who don’t normally file tax returns, which may well include a large number of people who are disabled, poor or simply do not have easy access to a computer or the Internet. Armed with this information, the scammers need only provide the target’s name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, and then supply their own bank account information to claim at least $1,200 in electronic payments.

It can’t hurt.

https://hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com/blog/uk-cyber-body-offers-practical-guidelines-on-dealing-with-coronavirus-themed-cyber-threats-22939.html

UK Cyber Body Offers Practical Guidelines on Dealing with Coronavirus-Themed Cyber Threats

… In a joint announcement with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the British agency warns that Coronavirus-themed scams are on the rise in “a fast moving situation.”

… The 11-page full report (PDF ) outlines a lengthy list of indicators of compromise (IOCs), and details social engineering techniques used by cybercrooks, including phishing and SMS phishing, as well as malware deployment and exploitation of new home-working setups.

At last, some sensible guidance…

https://www.adlawaccess.com/2020/04/articles/ftc-guidance-on-ai-dont-surprise-consumers-or-yourself/

FTC Guidance on AI: Don’t Surprise Consumers – Or Yourself

FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Andrew Smith this week published some helpful pointers for companies that are developing or using AI to support consumer-facing services. These pointers are drawn from past FTC enforcement actions, reports, and workshops. They boil down to one overarching message: Companies shouldn’t surprise consumers – or themselves – in how they develop or use AI.

Everything old is new again.

https://www.inputmag.com/tech/ibm-will-offer-free-cobol-training-to-address-overloaded-unemployment-systems

IBM will offer free COBOL training to address overloaded unemployment systems

IBM is releasing a free training course next week to teach the 60-year-old programming language COBOL to coders. It is also launching a forum where those with knowledge of the language can be matched with companies in need of help maintaining their critical systems.

For the terminally bored.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/self-isolation-quarantine-tips/

Bored During Self-Isolation? 100+ Tips for Staying Entertained and Engaged

Some industries are much more adaptable than others. That’s why I monitor the Porn industry so closely, for Academic purposes…

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/style/justin-laboy-instagram-strip-clubs-live.html

Inside the Strip Clubs of Instagram

… Many bars and strip clubs were forced to close nearly overnight around much of the world. Thousands of bartenders, bottle service girls and dancers have been left with no income. As with many other organizations, from elementary schools to Twelve Step meetings, strip clubs have also sought to recreate the experience digitally.

Magic City, a strip club in Atlanta, has started offering “virtual lap dance” performances on Instagram stories. Tory Lanez, a rapper, also recently began hosting dance nights for his 7.5 million followers, calling it “Quarantine Radio.”