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Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

hindenburgresearch.com

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Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#311
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A "time delay safe" function in the app could accomplish the same thing. I'd certainly want to take 30 minutes to think about it (or login and unlock large transfers 30 minutes ahead of time) if I was going to spend more than a couple hundred dollars. Right now, muggers can't take $1000 out of my wallet because I don't have $1000 in my wallet. They cannot force me to use an ATM to empty my bank account because my ATM…

>Right now, muggers can't take $1000 out of my wallet because I don't have $1000 in my wallet. They cannot force me to use an ATM to empty my bank account because my ATM daily limits are set to $500/day. When I moved to california my debit card got skimmed at a Lucky grocery store. Ever since then I've made sure that my debit card, venmo, paypal, and all my other money accounts are linked to a checking account that o…

It continually amazes how advanced yet also how backwards the US is.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#313
post #49

I had never heard of cash app (probably because I'm not underbanked) until my mother in law fell for some phishing scam and the scammer was trying to get her to send money through cash app.

Nah. You’re underbanked in a different way.

Come again?

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#314

FYI if anyone is interested I can prove it -- Cash App is engaged in a massive stock trading fraud. I noticed one day that my books were off (down) by 1 penny. When I dug into it, I figured out that Cash App is providing their customers with conflicting reports for their stock sales. In the app, the sales report rounds pennies up, in the actual sale, whose records are only available through more complex data export p…

This is at the core of Superman III. Richard Priors' character notices his paycheck gets rounded down, he writes an app to harvest up the rounded down tenths of pennies...

Company I write software for had a small subset of customers begin complaining about fractional cents when New Jersey implemented a sales tax of 6.625%. To be fair, company gains and loses on the half cents this caused were in equal measure. But I was commissioned to turn literally everything from UI to database to receipts and invoices and annual reports into thousandths instead of hundreds.

This is a fuckin dog boarding company I work for, not a bank. Because no, you can't screw your customers a half penny at a time... it's on you to fix the accounting and make it right.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roll up windows, lock doors, turn on windshield wipers. This scam was rampant in L.A. in the 1980 s.

The states attorney for Maryland in Baltimore lost her re-election bid because she refused to prosecute kids running a racket on the busiest streets. A guy did exactly what you said, and they snapped his wipers off his truck. He parked highly upset, and stepped out with a bat to confront the kids. One of them pulled out a handgun and shot the dude down right in rush hour traffic. She lost her job, and the city starte…

I can’t imagine being willing to die for my windshield wipers. Go home, call your insurance company, and avoid that area in the future.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it is a bit too much, but in general, Western societies should work on educating people to greatly reduce their amount of trust in other people. Current Western trust levels are simply not reflective of reality: they were meant for a white society with a single, enforced religion, where everyone was shaking in fear of divine punishment. We live in a global world now and vast majority of it never had or expected…

I am not at all surprised that your name seems to be Russian. Before anyone accuses me of racism, I too am from the same region, and my mother is ethnically Russian. Your mentality is typical of people from low-trust societies - "lol those naive Westerners" (lokhi[0] in Russian). But while individuals in high-trust societies can indeed be lokhi, everyone in a low-trust society is, collectively. They are giving up on…

I am not at all trying to present it as a positive development. SURE, living in a high-trust society is a blessing. Both emotionally - it is nice being able to trust people and be trusted by default - but also economically, because it vastly reduces friction in doing business. In Russia yes, main consideration is building a set of conditions (frequently with external checks, escrows, etc) to make sure you won't be duped - that frequently takes more energy than it takes to actually get the job done. For this reason, i don't deal with any Russian speaking clients, for example, it's simply not worth it. I am all on the side of high-trust.

Thing is, it's not the case. The world outside of a narrow circle of rich, white, Protestant countries has never been like this, and those countries too, are losing it because of changing racial composition, and immigration from low-trust cultures. And in a global world, high-trust groups are simply being taken advantage of.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#317
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your allegation is that Block is showing you two different numbers, and pocketing the difference . Can you prove that? Does it show up on their financial statements? Or are their auditors involved in the grift as well? Or could it be that the number in your bank account is consistent with what the buyer/seller on the other end of the trade is getting?

Can I prove that: yes. That was my opening statement. I have their statements, and I have my account transactions. There are three key numbers here: the net amount reported in the app, the net amount listed on their buried report, and the amount paid. The net amount in the app is correctly calculated according to their own report of settled asset value and amount. The net amount in this buried report and amount paid…

With wirecard even the auditors auditor allowed fraud! Coincidentally the ceo complain about short selling

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. A scam here in Baltimore that keeps occurring is that the squeege kids will run up on someone unsuspecting and start cleaning their windshield. They will pressure the driver for a tip, and the driver will say they don’t have cash of course. They will say that’s cool, you can send me a tip. They ask the driver for their phone so they can look up their cashapp for them, and bam the driver got scammed. What’s h…

I feel like there should be two levels of unlocked phones 1 which is full unlocked (access key apps, photos, settings, etc.) and like a guest mode (phone, web browser, weather app, calculator, etc)

Android has this, in the form of guest profiles. though i dont know about anyone who uses it this way and pixel for whatever reason disables it by default. some chinese oems have a good interface for this though

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#319
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. A scam here in Baltimore that keeps occurring is that the squeege kids will run up on someone unsuspecting and start cleaning their windshield. They will pressure the driver for a tip, and the driver will say they don’t have cash of course. They will say that’s cool, you can send me a tip. They ask the driver for their phone so they can look up their cashapp for them, and bam the driver got scammed. What’s h…

In India, apps like Google Pay (which runs on UPI platform) require you to first unlock the app using your screen lock method and then also require entry of a pin to confirm any kind of money transfer.

not only that, the pin entry page very clearly shows the recipient, the amount and the option to see technical info like refids. moreover the ui is exactly the same whichever app you use to initiate the payment (as opposed to the dumpster fire that is zelle). this has been the case since day 1 of upi.

Honestly the fact that some govt employee in india got so much right that all the sv startups could not is truly baffling.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. A scam here in Baltimore that keeps occurring is that the squeege kids will run up on someone unsuspecting and start cleaning their windshield. They will pressure the driver for a tip, and the driver will say they don’t have cash of course. They will say that’s cool, you can send me a tip. They ask the driver for their phone so they can look up their cashapp for them, and bam the driver got scammed. What’s h…

I feel like there should be two levels of unlocked phones 1 which is full unlocked (access key apps, photos, settings, etc.) and like a guest mode (phone, web browser, weather app, calculator, etc)

I learned recently you can do this with screen time on iOS.
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