"How does Elon Musk use the word 'fraud' to dismantle the US federal government?

The term is not as an attempt to describe the world, but to change it. It is a political tool, used by a politician to justify a political action: regime change to oligarchy."

~ Timothy Snyder

#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #fraud #firings #workers #billionaires #EconomicElites #TaxCuts #Medicaid
/3

snyder.substack.com/p/the-frau…

The "Fraud" Fraud

How DOGE destroys

^{Timothy Snyder (Thinking about...)}

"Musk's 'fraud' rhetoric is presented as an anti-politics, as something fresh and exciting. But it is in fact a politics, a very old sort, the politics of oligarchy. As he himself has made clear himself, Musk is a politician with a program. It is to disable the rule of law, leaving no barriers to his oligarchical power. In this scheme, the only parts of government meant to function are the ones used to silence people who point out this obvious truth."

#Musk #Trump #fraud #LawandOrder
/4

"A recent poll suggests that 70% of Americans believe government expenditures are filled with waste, fraud, and inefficiency....

The GOP is now broadly using the fraud trope to justify cutting any popular program. Medicaid is up next."

#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #fraud #firings #workers #billionaires #EconomicElites #TaxCuts #Medicaid
/2

"Musk and Trump’s focus on fraud is nothing new. Fraud has always served as a powerful political trope, one that provides a rationale for cutting government. Accusations of fraud were used to discredit Black elected officials during Reconstruction. Ronald Reagan’s Welfare Queen was an especially effective trope directed against poverty-based policies."

~ Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan

#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #fraud #firings #workers #billionaires
/1

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/mus…

Musk’s Fraudulent Fraud Squad

A tired trope gets a new lease of life

^{Pamela Herd (Can We Still Govern?)}

In 2023, #generativeAI made content creation easier but raised trust concerns due to #deepfake attacks. Using #AI, fraudsters crafted fake videos from victims' images, enabling identity #fraud.

At the @w3c member meeting in #Hiroshima 🇯🇵, Sophia Wu (Ant Group) called for collaboration to tackle #deepfake threats with new complementary Web standards.

🎬 Watch the video: youtu.be/PGBIfZSF174

Protect your info online folks and don't expect much from AirBnB if you get a fraudulent charge from them on your card!

I recently saw an AirBnB purchase on my credit card. I did not make it. $CAD466 for a reservation in London. I have never even had my CC connected to AirBNB and my account is secure. It was obviously made by someone who got my CC info.

I saw it a couple days after the transaction but it was still pending on my statement. So I called my bank (VanCity) and they asked all the right questions, removed the "token" for AirBNB so other transactions couldn't be made, and encouraged me to contact ABNB, screenshot any communications, and try to get them to reverse the transaction.

I had three conversations with ABNB. The first, text chat, I explained the situation, they were receptive but it ended without any resolution.

After waiting a few hours for a response, I called ABNB for another conversation. This one ended with them agreeing, verbally, to refund the amount in 24-48hrs.

However, immediately after the end of that conversation, they sent an email, attached here, where they argued, without evidence, and despite the fact the support person said it was someone in Montreal named James, (I know no one in Montreal named James!) that the most likely explanation was that it was a friend or family
member. 😡 They would not refund.

After I sent a spirited reply demanding evidence they said they would only give it under supeona or a police investigation!! 🤯 (full text in image alt)

So ya hey AirBnB: Suck it.

I have gone back to my bank to have the number deactivated and put in a charge dispute. It could take up to 3 months for the charge to be refunded!
#Privacy #Fraud #AirBnB #CreditCards #VanCity

#Merchan has explained the concept of #ReasonableDoubt, instructed the jurors that statements made by the various attorneys are not to be accepted as fact, & #jurors are listening intently, a reminder that jurors take many cues from judges - as the impartial arbiter & why #Trump's attacks on judges are stupid.

Besides this case, today there's a hearing to determine the sufficiency of Trump’s #civil #fraud #bond for the $454M penalty, & Thurs, #SCOTUS hears arguments on his bs #immunity defense.

#Merchan read his #Sandoval decision re:

the #civil #fraud finding that he misstated his assets; his 2 violations of a #GagOrder stemming from that case; 2 separate court findings of #defamation of #EJeanCarroll; & the dissolution of the #Trump foundation as part of a settlement w/the NYAG.
The judge said he would not allow prosecutors to discuss in detail the underlying facts of those matters — but added a warning that could change.

#law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Blanche said #Trump put up "a wall" between himself & his company when he became president. We know from the civil #fraud ruling that isn’t true.

Trump always seems to get his lawyers to basically testify about how *successful* the #TrumpOrganization, has been. - Blanche went off on this success narrative for a while.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Isn't it … odd … that Trump just "happened" to meet an adoring devotee at Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta, a Black woman who hugged him, proving that Black people are just head over heels in love with Trump –

And she turns out to be an employee of the Georgia GOP?

All staged to create viral videos and all deeply insulting to African American voters, with the implication that they can be easily deceived and manipulated.

#Trump #fraud

meidastouch.com/news/trumps-vi…

Revolut does not have a UK banking licence.

If you are a victim of fraud you'll be SOL.

Best advice; close your account and move conventional bank elsewhere.

Please boost to make people in the UK aware.

theguardian.com/money/2024/apr…

#fraud

I’m a victim of scammers. But Revolut says ‘no’ to a refund

The company seems to hold me entirely responsible for the fact £40,000 was stolen

^{Miles Brignall (The Guardian)}

My extremely badass friend and @tallpoppy advisor @satnam has an important new research report out on "pig butchering" scams. If you've ever wondered what those weird wrong-number texts are about, this is the answer, and it's super dark.
Read it, and tell the less-online folks in your life about it. You could save someone you care about from life-altering victimisation.

#scams #socialengineering #fraud

tenable.com/blog/pig-butcherin…

Pig Butchering Scam: From Tinder and TikTok to WhatsApp and Telegram, How Scammers Are Stealing Millions in a Long Con

In part one of a two-part series on Pig butchering, we detail the pervasive scam that has impacted thousands of victims around the world, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

^Tenable®

Call me old-fashioned, but if a car kills people at ten times the rate of other cars,
the company covers up the data,
and the CEO lies to the public and says the cars are safer…

I think that CEO should go to jail on fraud charges.
#Musk #fraud #DOJ #WhiteCollarCrimeSpiking
prospect.org/justice/06-13-202…