A new German law passed yesterday requires Apple to allow other mobile payments services access to the iPhone’s NFC chip for payments to allow them to fully compete with Apple Pay. 9to5Mac reports: Apple initially completely locked down the NFC chip so that it could be used only by Apple Pay. It later allowed some third-party apps to use the chip…
Tag: money laundering
‘Nearly All’ Counter-Strike Microtransactions Are Being Used for Money Laundering
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players will no longer be able to trade container keys between accounts because the trade was part of a massive worldwide fraud network. From a report: Players earned cases in Counter-Strike containing weapons and cosmetic upgrades, but had to purchase the keys to open the boxes. Developer Valve runs an internal marketplace on Steam where it allowed players…
Terrorists Turn To Bitcoin For Funding, and They’re Learning Fast
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, has been designated a terrorist organization by Western governments and some others and has been locked out of the traditional financial system. But this year its military wing has developed an increasingly sophisticated campaign to raise money using Bitcoin. In the latest version of the…
US Files Lawsuit Against Bitcoin Exchange That Helped Launder Ransomware Profits
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to recover more than $100 million from a notorious cryptocurrency exchange that has helped cyber-criminals launder stolen funds, such as those obtained from ransomware payments, dark web drug marketplaces, and funds from hacked cryptocurrency exchanges. ZDNet reports: In a lawsuit filed on Friday, July 26, the U.S. wants to recover…
Facebook Backpedals From Its Original Ambitious Vision for Libra
An anonymous reader quotes Ars Technica:
David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s new Calibra payments division, appeared before two hostile congressional committees this week with a simple message: Facebook knows policymakers are concerned about Libra, and Facebook won’t move forward with the project until their concerns are addressed. While he didn’t say so explicitly, Marcus’ comments at hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday…
Japan To Lead Development of SWIFT Network For Cryptocurrency
Japan’s government is leading a global push to set up an international network for cryptocurrency payments, similar to the SWIFT network used by banks, in an effort to fight money laundering, Reuters reports. From the report: Tokyo aims to have the network in place in the next few years, the person said, declining to be identified because the information has not…