UK Finance and Action Fraud have both reported increases in fraud related to romance scams over the lockdown period. What Is Romance Fraud? Romance fraud/romance scams refers to fraudsters adopting fake personas online in order to fool a victim into thinking they are in a serious romantic relationship with the aim of convincing the victim to send money (e.g….
With the news that mining Bitcoin uses more electricity annually than the whole of Argentina, we take a closer look at the carbon footprint of technology today. Cambridge Researchers from Cambridge recently highlighted how power-hungry “mining” for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency is because it requires heavy computer calculations to verify transactions. The researchers reported that it consumes 21.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) a…
Zap-Map figures show that Scotland has the largest number of free electronic vehicle (EV) charging points in the UK. More Than A Quarter of the UK’s Free Chargers The latest figures from EV charging infrastructure trackers Zap-Maps show that of the 21,000 charging devices listed on Zap-Map, 4,900 are free to use. This means that Scotland has about double…
In the light of a reported recent victory by Europol in trying to stop the particularly dangerous Emotet malware, we look at what it is, how it is spread, and how to try and guard against it. What Is Emotet? Emotet is a computer malware program, believed to be Russian in origin, that was originally developed in the form…
Alphabet Inc’s (Google’s) quarterly sales for its advertising and cloud businesses exceeded expectations to hit record levels, helped by the pandemic driving retail and clients online. Figures Google’s advertising business, which includes YouTube, made up 81 per cent of Alphabet’s record $56.9 billion in quarterly sales (fourth quarter). This represented a massive 23 per cent rise on one year…
The fact that Amazon has started using AI-powered cameras in delivery vans that constantly record footage of drivers has led to accusations of mobile corporate surveillance. Cameras The Driveri combined video recording and AI cameras have been introduced to the cab of Amazon delivery vans to record drivers with the stated intention of helping to improve driving. The system…
Microsoft has announced the general availability of a one-of-a-kind customised, synthetic voice for brands, generated using Custom Neural Voice, the Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature of Speech in Azure Cognitive Services. What Is It? The Custom Neural Voice from Microsoft uses deep neural networks and a powerful base model built with speech data from many different speakers to create a Neural “text-to-speech”…
In the light of the recent controversy over GameStop shares, we take a look at the growing trend for casual, amateur investing and how the Robinhood app has enabled this. Robinhood Robinhood is a free-trading app that lets any investor trade stocks, options, exchange-traded funds, and cryptocurrency without paying commissions or fees. Robinhood is paid by “market makers” who are typically…
The LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr in Norway was issued an £8.5m penalty for the alleged sharing of users’ sensitive personal data with third-party advertisers without obtaining appropriate consent. Complaint The fine is the result of a legal complaint by the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) last year, where it expressed concern that users of the app may not have been…
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has asked the UK Treasury to consider increasing the maximum contactless payment to £100. Changing Payment Behaviour The move away from handling cash due to its potential infection-passing risk, and the lockdowns making consumers less likely to visit ATMs or town centres have led to a move away from cash towards contactless. Figures For…
