Meta says working to thwart WhatsApp scammers
"Our team identified the accounts and disabled them before the criminal organisations that created them could use them," WhatsApp external affairs director Clair Deevy said.
Often run by organised gangs, the scams range from bogus cryptocurrency investments to get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, WhatsApp executives said in a briefing.
"There is always a catch and it should be a red flag for everyone: you have to pay upfront to get promised returns or earnings," Meta-owned WhatsApp said in a blog post.
WhatsApp detected and banned more than 6.8 million accounts linked to scam centres, most of them in Southeast Asia, according to Meta.
WhatsApp and Meta worked with OpenAI to disrupt a scam traced to Cambodia that used ChatGPT to generate text messages containing a link to a WhatsApp chat to hook victims, according to the tech firms.
Meta began prompting WhatsApp users to be wary when added to unfamiliar chat groups by people they do not know.
New "safety overviews" provide information about the group and tips on spotting scams, along with the option of making a quick exit.
"We've all been there: someone you don't know attempting to message you, or add you to a group chat, promising low-risk investment opportunities or easy money, or saying you have an unpaid bill that's overdue," Meta said in a blog post.
"The reality is, these are often scammers trying to prey on people's kindness, trust and willingness to help - or, their fears that they could be in trouble if they don't send money fast."
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Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
At home with interior design dream team Geri O'Toole and Phoebe Holland
The partnership between two Munster, Irish and international design mavens has been 'years in the making', they reveal. Cork's Phoebe Holland, managing director of and Limerick native Geri O'Toole, interior designer to the stars and founder of Geri Designs, were keen to fashion and curate a quality collection of luxury yet affordable pieces to open a 'flow' through rooms. 'We discovered it was difficult for designers to source versatile, durable rugs that can be used in multiple spaces,' says Phoebe. 'We identified a need for a timeless, high-quality collection of rugs that work together to create a cohesive design flow. The goal was to create an accessible range designed by an interior specialist, allowing everyone to enjoy the luxury of handmade, high-quality rugs. The curated collection of rugs is both elegant and practical.' The Manhattan rug, pictured in Geri O'Toole's open-plan living area in her Limerick home. Weaving their talents together 'felt like a natural creative partnership', says Geri. Phoebe agrees: 'Having worked with Geri for many years, this collaboration was a natural step. Geri's work is known for its elegance and practicality, and that's exactly what we wanted this collection to reflect. These rugs are designed to suit a range of interiors, from traditional to contemporary, and to last for years to come.' Interior designer Geri O'Toole. This launch marks a milestone for as it celebrates its milestone 30th birthday — over three decades of 'helping Irish homeowners bring warmth and style to their spaces', adds its MD. 'The collaboration with Geri Designs represents a confident step forward in supporting Irish design and bringing accessible luxury to homes across the country,' says Phoebe. Phoebe Holland and Geri O'Toole. As the duo posed for a shoot at Geri's home with photographer Kirsty Lyons behind the camera, the names of each rug as well as the natural palettes conjure up a sense of place, taking their cues from locations where Geri has worked on design projects, from the rustic landscapes of Provence to the bright lights of Manhattan. 'This collection is very personal to me,' says Geri. 'Each rug reflects a part of my design journey, places I've worked, materials I love, and the kind of quiet luxury I try to bring to every project.' The textiles focus on sustainability too — each rug is handwoven by skilled artisans using responsibly sourced wool and recycled cotton, they add. 'The entire collection is certified by the Care & Fair programme, supporting ethical production and craftsmanship,' says Geri. Both interior pros say they're delighted this partnership is one that emphasises 'female-led Irish-owned businesses'. Phoebe Holland's puppy Jackie 'loves comfort', says Phoebe. Another lady on the team approves — Phoebe's puppy, Jackie, a miniature Jack Russell terrier rescue, is already a fan of the products, seeking out their cosiness and, occasionally, checking out delivery vans. 'We only have her for a few weeks, but she's settling in so well,' says Phoebe. Quality, sustainability and timeless design are woven into the tapestry. 'Both and Geri Designs value quality craftsmanship, natural and sustainable materials and products that are designed to transcend trends and stand the test of time,' according to Phoebe. Phoebe's home in Cork: 'It will probably be a project that I never stop working on.' Quiet luxury has crept into our lexicon and our lives, and the collection is a nod to the concept. Geri, who has designed the dream interior spaces for homeowners across Ireland and the world, including podcaster Vogue Williams, says: 'We wanted to create something that felt considered, beautiful and practical. Pieces that would sit comfortably in any home and last for years to come.' The collection blends classic and contemporary design, with timeless styles that won't date. 'Each rug is flatwoven, offering added longevity and flexibility. The warm, earthy colour palette features shades of olive, moss, beige and blue, carefully chosen to work across multiple spaces,' says Phoebe. The collection is available online and instore at You can preview the rugs using room visualiser tool, and benefit from free next-day delivery throughout Ireland; rel="noopener noreferrer">, Q&A WITH GERI AND PHOEBE Tell us about where you live, your home, and its design Geri: I live in Limerick. My home was designed by Des Ewing Architects, and the interiors were by Geri Designs. We have been here 10 years and renovated and extended two years ago. Phoebe: I live in Cork and I am lucky enough to have bought my family home, which is Georgian. We have been living here for two years, and it's still a work in progress! My home will probably be a project that I will never stop working on. We started with the master bedroom. All we have completed to date is this room and the hallways. We are in the process of doing up our living room based around a Ghom silk rug I fell in love with, which we will use as a wall hanging. The kitchen and bathrooms are next on our list. Who shares your living space? Geri: My husband, Cathal, and two children, Finley and Edie, and Baxter the dog. Phoebe: Owen, my partner, and Jackie, our miniature Jack Russell terrier puppy that we rescued from Molly Moo's Westie Rescue. Describe your design style Geri: My design style is earthy, organic and soulful Phoebe: My design style is eclectic, cosy and playful Geri O'Toole's pooch Baxter taking a nap. Picture: Ruth Maria Murphy Your top interior design advice? Geri: Reflect your personality in your home — lean into good quality materials; they always stand the test of time. Shop for antique or vintage pieces and be intentional about what you bring into your home. What's trending in textiles (inside or out)? Phoebe: In rugs, it's earthy textures and natural materials. Geri O'Toole in her kitchen, where the Provence Olive runner works well with the colour scheme. How do you unwind? Phoebe: A walk in nature, a glass of wine and a good book! Would you like to feature in Changing Spaces or Open Door? Email
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Karen Hao on AI tech bosses: ‘Many choose not to have children because they don't think the world is going to be around much longer'
Scarlett Johansson never intended to take on the might of Silicon Valley. But last summer the Hollywood star discovered a ChatGPT model had been developed whose voice – husky, with a hint of vocal fry – bore an uncanny resemblance to the AI assistant voiced by Johansson in the 2013 Spike Jonze movie Her. On the day of the launch, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman , maker of ChatGPT, posted on X a one-word comment: 'her'. Later Johansson released a furious statement revealing she had been asked to voice the new aide but had declined. Soon the model was scrapped. Johansson and a phalanx of lawyers had defeated the tech behemoths. That skirmish is one among the many related in Karen Hao's new book Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination, a 482-page volume that, in telling the story of San Francisco company OpenAI and its founder, Altman, concerns itself with large and worrying truths. Could AI steal your job, destabilise your mental health and, via its energy-guzzling servers plunge the environment into catastrophe? Yes to all of the above, and more. [ Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination by Karen Hao - Precise, insightful, troubling Opens in new window ] As Hao puts it in the book: 'How do we govern artificial intelligence? AI is one of the most consequential technologies of this era. In a little over a decade, it has reformed the backbone of the Internet. It is now on track to rewire a great many other critical functions in society, from healthcare to education, from law to finance, from journalism to government. The future of AI – the shape this technology takes – is inextricably tied to our future.' It's a rainy day in Dublin when I travel to Dalkey to meet Hao, a Hong Kong-dwelling, New Jersey-raised journalist who has become a thorn in Altman's side. Educated at MIT, she writes for the Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Centre AI Spotlight series, a programme that trains journalists in covering AI matters. Among families grabbing a bite to eat in a local hotel, the boisterous kids running around tables in the lobby and tourists checking in and out, Hao, neat and professional in a cream blazer with her hair tied back, radiates an air of calm authority. READ MORE 'AI is such an urgent story,' she says. 'The pursuit of AI becomes dangerous as an idea because it's eroding people's data privacy . It's eroding people's fundamental rights. It's exploiting labour, but it's humans that are doing that, in the name of AI.' Whether you're in Dublin or San Diego, AI is hurtling into our lives. ChatGPT has 400 million weekly users. You can't go on to WhatsApp , Google or Meta without encountering an AI bot. It was revealed in a recent UK Internet Matters survey that 12 per cent of kids and teens use chatbots to offset feelings of loneliness. Secondary school students are changing their CAO forms to give themselves the best chance of thwarting the broken career ladder that AI has created. The impact of AI on the environment is extraordinary. Just one ChatGPT search about something as simple as the weather consumes vast energy, 10 times more than a Google search. Or, as Des Traynor of Intercom put it at Dalkey Book Festival recently, it's like using a 'massive diesel generator to power a calculator'. It's far from the utopian ideal of a medical solutions-focused, climate-improving enterprise that was first trumpeted to Hao when she began investigating OpenAI and Altman in 2019. As a 20-something reporter at MIT Technology Review covering artificial intelligence, Hao became intrigued by the company. Founded as a non-profit, OpenAI claimed not to chase commercialisation. Even its revamp into a partially for-profit model didn't alter its mission statement: to safely build artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. And to be open and transparent while doing it. But when Hao arrived at the plush headquarters on San Francisco's 18th and Folsom Streets, all exposed wood beam ceilings and comfy couches, she noticed that: nobody seemed to be allowed to talk to her casually. Her photograph had been sent to security. She couldn't even eat lunch in the canteen with the employees. 'They were really secretive, even though they kept saying they were transparent,' Hao says. 'Later on, I started sourcing my own interviews. People started telling me: this is the most secretive organisation I've ever worked for.' Karen Hao in Dublin during the Dalkey book festival. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The meetings Hao had with OpenAI executives did not impress her. 'In the first meeting, they could not articulate what the mission was. I was like, well, this organisation has consistently been positioning itself as anti-Silicon Valley. But this feels exactly like Silicon Valley, where men are thrown boatloads of money when they don't yet have a clear idea of what they're even doing.' Simple questions appeared to wrong-foot the executives. They spoke about AGI (artificial general intelligence), the theoretical notion that silicon chips could one day give rise to a human-like consciousness. AGI would help solve complex problems in medicine and climate change , they enthused. But how would they achieve this and how would AGI technology be successfully distributed? They hedged. 'Fire is another example,' Hao was told. 'It's also got some real drawbacks to it.' Since that time, AGI has not been developed, but billions have been pumped into large language models such as ChatGPT, which can perform tasks such as question answering and translation. Built by consuming vast amounts of often garbage data from the bottom drawer of the Internet, AI chatbots are frequently unreliable. An AI assistant might give you the right answer. Or it might, as Elon Musk's AI bot Grok did recently , praise Adolf Hitler and cast doubt on people with Jewish surnames. 'Quality information and misinformation are being mixed together constantly,' Hao says, 'and no one can tell any more what are the sources of truth.' It didn't have to be this way. 'Before ChatGPT and before OpenAI took the scaling approach, the original trend in AI research was towards tiny AI models and small data sets,' Hao says. 'The idea was that you could have really powerful AI systems with highly curated data sets that were only a couple of hundred images or data points. But the key was you needed to do the curation on the way in. When it's the other way around, you're culling the gunk and toxicity and that becomes content moderation.' One particularly moving section of Hao's book is when she journeys to poorer countries to look at how people who work on the content moderation side of OpenAI cope day-to-day. Meagre incomes, job instability and exposure to hate speech, child sex abuse and rape fantasies online are just some of the realities contractors face. In Kenya , one worker's sanity became so frayed his wife and daughter left him. When he told Hao his story, the author says she felt like she'd been punched in the gut. 'I went back to my hotel, and I cried because I was like, this is tearing people's families apart.' Hao nearly didn't get her book out. She had thought she would have some collaboration with Altman and OpenAI, but the participation didn't happen. 'I was devastated,' she admits. 'Fortunately I had a lot of amazing people in my life who were like, 'Are you going to let them win or are you going to continue being the excellent journalist you know you can be, and report it without them?'' Understanding companies such as OpenAI is becoming more important for everyone. In recent weeks, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet , Google's parent company, delivered their quarterly public financial reports, disclosing that their year-to-date capital expenditure ran into tens of billions , much of it required for the creation and maintenance of data centres to power AI's services. In Ireland, there are more than 80 data centres, gobbling up 50 per cent of the electricity in the Dublin region, and hoovering up more than 20 per cent nationally, as they work to process and distribute huge quantities of digital information. [ Let's get real: Ireland's data centre boom is driving up fossil fuel dependence Opens in new window ] Hao believes governments must force tech companies to have more transparency in relation to the energy their data centres consume. 'If you're going to build data centres, you have to report to the public what the actual energy consumed is, how much water is actually used. That enables the public and the government to decide if this is a trade-off worth continuing. And they need to invest more in independent institutions for cultivating AI expertise.' While governments have to play their part, it's difficult reading the book not to find yourself asking the simple question: why aren't tech bosses themselves concerned about what they're doing? Tech behemoths may be making billions – AI researchers are negotiating pay packages of $250 million from companies such as Meta – but surely they've given a care to their children's future? And their children's children? Wouldn't they prefer them to live in a world they still have flowers and polar bears and untainted water? [ Adam Kelly: I am a university lecturer witnessing how AI is shrinking our ability to think Opens in new window ] 'What's interesting is many of them choose not to have children because they don't think the world is going to be around much longer,' Hao says. 'With some people in more extreme parts of the community, their idea of Utopia is all humans eventually going away and being superseded by this superior intelligence. They see this as a natural force of evolution.' 'It's like a very intense version of utilitarianism,' she adds. 'You'd maximise morality in the world if you created superior intelligences that are more moral than us, and then they inherited our Earth.' Offering a more positive outlook, there are many in the AI community who would say that the work they are doing will result in delivering solutions that benefit the planet. AI has the potential to accelerate scientific discoveries: its possibilities are exciting because they are potentially paradigm-shifting. Is that enough to justify the actions being taken? Not according to Hao. 'The problem is: we don't have time to continue destroying our planet with the hope that one day maybe all of it will be solved by this thing that we're creating,' she says. 'They're taking real world harm today and offsetting it with a possible future tomorrow. That possible future could go in the opposite direction.' 'They can make these trade-offs because they're the ones that are going to be fine. They're the ones with the wealth to build the bunkers. If climate change comes, they have everything ready.' Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination by Karen Hao is published by Allen Lane
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Oasis Wembley gig in major security breach after at least 200 ticketless fans were sneaked in for cash via disabled door
WEMBLEY bosses are ready to call in police after hundreds of ticketless Oasis fans are said to have used a security scam to get into one of the band's gigs. As many as 200 were asked for £350 each to be snuck in via a disabled entrance, The Sun was told. 6 Wembley bosses are ready to call in police after hundreds of ticketless Oasis fans are said to have used a security scam to get into one of the band's gigs Credit: Alamy 6 The Sun's Ellie Henman at Wembley for the Oasis gig Credit: Simon Jones 6 Two punters told The Sun how a large group were able to all use a copy of the same ticket to get into the North London stadium through a disabled entrance. They were then handed wristbands giving them access to the VIP area at the front of the stage as Liam and Noel Gallagher banged out hits including Stand By Me and Slide Away. The two women masterminding the scam are said to have told them they had 'ten groups of 20' waiting — meaning around 200 are likely to have been sneaked in. One of the fans told us: 'We were given our tickets, which were all the same, and a woman drew a shape on our hands. 'We were told to go to the disabled door at entrance M, even though our tickets said entrance F. 'We showed our stamped hands to the person on the door, they scanned the tickets, even though we all had the same one, and let us in. 'Another member of staff then handed us a golden circle wristband and that was it. There were zero security searches. We just walked straight in.' Last night Wembley said cops could be called in to investigate. A spokesman said: 'Entering Wembley Stadium without a ticket is a serious offence and we are investigating these allegations. 'If they are substantiated, we will refer our evidence to the police.' Incredible on stage footage shows thousands of Oasis fans going wild at sold out Wembley gig The Sun has tracked down the two women who appear to be running the scam but we have chosen not to name them. Using Facebook groups dedicated to fans buying and selling tickets for Oasis shows, they approached numerous people desperate to see the band. There were zero security searches. We just walked straight in Fan One message reads: 'Hey if you're still looking for tickets let me know I can meet you in person and no payment until you're inside!' The punter who told The Sun about the scam said he was contacted on social media and told to pay a £10 deposit into one of the scammer's Monzo bank accounts. Once it was paid, he was put into a WhatsApp group. 6 He explained: 'Everyone in the group was told to go to the Sainsbury's shop at Wembley Way on Saturday. 'There were so many people there I got talking to them and we were all there for the same reason. 'Two women came and met us. They drew a shape on our hands and then a ticket was put into the WhatsApp group which we were to use. One of the women told me they were in a hurry because they had 'ten groups of 20 people' to get into the stadium. "They told us all to go to entrance M and head to the disabled entrance.' Hey if you're still looking for tickets let me know I can meet you in person and no payment until you're inside! One message The man, along with a friend and others in his group, went to the area at 5pm. He claims they were ushered inside after their tickets — all copies of the same one — were scanned with no questions asked. He added: 'A girl scanned my ticket and some bloke inside gave me a wristband and that was that. 6 Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage at Wembley Credit: Supplied 6 Fans packed out the stadium for the reunion tour Credit: Alamy 'We were supposed to pay inside and transfer the money to one of the women's Monzo bank accounts but loads of my group didn't do it.' A message shared with The Sun from the WhatsApp group reveals one of the women giving her bank details again, along with her full name. She writes: 'Transfer to these details once inside. Don't forget. 'Someone is waiting inside and one payment is made you're free to do whatever.' The second woman, believed to be a relative of hers, then asks the group: 'Did all u lot get in??' We later contacted one of the scammers to ask about getting into Sunday night's Wembley gig. Two women came and met us. They drew a shape on our hands and then a ticket was put into the WhatsApp group which we were to use Fan Using encrypted messaging app Signal, she said: '£400 a ticket but I'm taking payment before anyone goes in! Yesterday was a f***ing s**tshow. Not doing that again.' Another punter, who bought tickets for Sunday night from the same scammers, told The Sun they were told to go to the disabled door. And a gig-goer told us their brother used the scam on Saturday night, paying £350. They said: 'Apparently loads of people didn't pay when they got in.' The Sun understands the ticket scam did not work on Sunday evening for the people we spoke to. Wembley has suffered security scandals before. In 2021 a steward helped ticketless fans into England's Euros footie final clash with Italy. Last night Oasis played their first of three shows in Edinburgh.
