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super rich jili Jack Fitzpatrick knew something was up when he got a call from his 75-year-old mother asking him if he was in jail. His mother, who had recently purchased a flip phone after years of aversion to technology, told him that she’d received a call from someone claiming to be him; they sounded just like him and even referred to her using the nickname that Fitzpatrick has been calling her since he was a kid. She was told by the caller that she needed to send him $6,000 via FedEx immediately to pay for a lawyer to bail him out. She needed to send the money to Quebec, which was especially curious seeing as she lives in a small town in northern New Brunswick and her son lives just outside Halifax. Fitzpatrick knew right away that it was a scam, but the detail with which it was executed took him aback. “I’d like to think I’m pretty security-aware, but again, they had my voice and they had my mom’s name,” Fitzpatrick, 39, says, now a few months removed from the experience. Though he was able to stop her from sending anything to anyone, the fact that she could be targeted so specifically and convincingly was alarming. Falling for scams has never been easier. In 2022, Canadians lost more than $58 million to spear phishing scams, which are a form of scam that target individuals with specific names, events or pieces of information, according to — in other words, highly personalized cyberattacks that can come via text message, email or by phone. In 2023 alone, Canadians lost a staggering $567 million to fraud — an increase of $37 million from 2022 and $187 million since 2021. Ali Dehghantanha, a professor of cybersecurity and threat intelligence at the University of Guelph and the founding director of the Cyber Science Lab, says even seasoned tech professionals fall for generative AI-driven email scams and fake links. With AI-assisted scams increasingly prevalent online, the days of being able to easily recognize scam emails by finding obvious typos and poor formatting are all but over. Still, there are ways to keep things locked down as the busy holiday shopping season ramps up. Experts say that using two-factor authentication, taking a moment to verify the legitimacy of transactions, and using “safe” words to distinguish between family members and fraudsters can keep your data safe from malicious online actors this holiday season. Ivo Wiens, field chief technology officer of cybersecurity at CDW Canada, advises using two-factor authentication whenever possible as an extra layer of security when banking and shopping online. Two-factor authentication — sometimes stylized as “2FA” — can be set up within banking and finance apps or through external apps like Google Authenticator or Duo; it prompts you for a one-time verification code to make sure it’s really you trying to log in to your account. “It’s like having a lock and an alarm system on your house,” Wiens says. “Think of that (as) the equivalent for your digital accounts.” It may be annoying — and slow down the snappy pace you’re used to when shopping — but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to making financial transactions online. If you can’t get two-factor authentication enabled on banks and other accounts, Dehghantanha recommends any form of SMS or text message alerts to make sure that you catch any fraudulent charges or entries the moment they come across your account’s dashboard. At the very least, it’ll help develop a habit of checking (and rechecking) all transactions. “If your bank is not offering that, at least enable notifications — whether it’s SMS or app notifications — from your bank for every single purchase,” Dehghantanha adds, which can be done through the notifications settings in various banking and finance apps. Perhaps less obviously, Wiens recommends having a “safe” word to use with family to quickly determine whether you’re actually speaking with a member of your family. AI-driven impostor scams like the one that targeted Fitzpatrick’s mother are becoming increasingly common, he says, and having quick and clear checks that can help identify fake voices, doctored video and look-alike profiles can be a game-changer. “This helps spot the scammers pretending to be family members,” Wiens says. “Having that word that you share as a family, the family secret word that you can call out for when this is happening.” Making sure you’re speaking to a real family member is even more important amid a rise in identity theft. As a result, it may be worth it to invest in identity monitoring — services that scan the web to check if your personal information appears in a data breach — or fraud insurance, Equifax Canada chief information security officer Octavia Howell says, just in case. “Fraud and identity insurance is out there to help people get back on their feet,” Howell advises. “Because we know that when your identify is stolen or when you’re defrauded for anything, it’s very difficult for you to do it on your own.” Experts say some digital scams can be avoided simply by recognizing them. Though there may be a temptation to blaze through online transactions, shipping confirmations and coupon codes, taking even a few seconds to double-check transactions, verify the legitimacy of offers and closely examine URLs for things like typos in names can save you a headache down the line. Professionally made, convincing-looking, fake online stores are more common (and effective) than you might think; blocked 9.9 million attempts by users to access fake shops in September and 13.4 million such attempts in October, with more fake pop-ups expected ahead of Black Friday and Christmas. So if a deal in an email or pop-up ad looks too good to be true, it usually is, says Wiens. “It’s like getting a counterfeit bill nowadays, that even bank tellers have trouble spotting,” Wiens says. “That’s why it’s crucial to slow down and verify.” Back in Nova Scotia, Fitzpatrick advises getting a second opinion to give yourself time to critically examine the situation, in line with the “slow down and verify” approach. “If you have something like that — that doesn’t make much sense — and you can’t get a hold of the person, tell the story to somebody else,” Fitzpatrick says. “Someone who’s emotionally removed.”

Peter Dutton (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch) NUCLEAR COSTINGS DAY The day has finally arrived. Some said it would never happen but here we are — today we get the much-promised, long-awaited nuclear power costings from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton . While nothing says “please pay real close attention to my policy’s details” like an announcement on a Friday 12 days before Christmas, unfortunately for Dutton people have been waiting a mighty long time to hear more information on his plans to build seven nuclear power stations around the country and previews of his big reveal are leading the agenda most places this morning. The Nine papers report Dutton “will ask Australians to support hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending on nuclear energy, including a controversial move to use taxpayer subsidies to build the industry while promising to bring down household electricity bills”. The papers say a key part of the Coalition leader’s plans will be an assumption coal-fired power stations will continue to operate as the nuclear plants are built, despite energy companies planning to stop using coal in the near future. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) reckons 90% of coal-fired plants will be shut down before 2035, with complete closure five years later. Disagreeing analysis over the cost of the nuclear plans compared to Labor’s renewable pledges has filled many column inches recently. A rough summary of The Sydney Morning Herald’s reporting goes a bit like: the Coalition handily cites analysis which claims Labor’s renewables rollout will cost $642 billion while its nuclear plan will come in less than $400 billion. The government rejects those figures and cites other analysis that claims its plan will cost $122 billion. Defending the nuclear plans, the Coalition reckons there will be less renewable energy added to the electricity grid than Labor predicts by 2030 and claims renewables will risk blackouts and raise bills. Meanwhile, the CSIRO says the first potential nuclear plant would be completed by 2040 at the earliest (the coalition says 2035) and “a fully operational fleet of nuclear reactors cannot be expected before 2050”. The Nine papers also say the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis believes power bills would rise by $665 a year to repay the cost of building the nuclear plants, while (as previously flagged ) the CSIRO projects nuclear will cost twice as much as renewable energy. So... a whole load of disagreeing over something that potentially isn’t due to provide any help to people’s power bills for decades — something the ABC has picked up and is leading with this morning. The broadcaster points out “senior Coalition sources” have expressed reservations over the nuclear plans, highlighting the fact they will “not map out an energy future in which households would get any immediate or even long-term relief”. A member of the Coalition is quoted as saying: “The fundamental problem is that whichever way you cost it, nuclear power is not hugely cheap. Nuclear will keep the lights on, but it’s hardly going to bring prices back down to where they were 10 years ago.” The ABC reports Coalition strategists are frustrated at the amount of scrutiny Dutton’s plans are getting, complaining Energy Minister Chris Bowen didn’t receive as much over his target of 82% renewable energy by 2030. One could argue perhaps if they’re annoyed over all the attention, maybe they should have considered telling the country a bit earlier about how they planned to fund their eye-catching plan... Anthony Albanese ( see Wednesday’s Worm ) will be shocked to learn The Australian is keen to sell the opposition’s costings vs Labor’s, claiming “wind and solar will still dominate the grid under the Coalition’s model”. RATES CUT HOPES SLIDE There was significant excitement at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) more dovish interest rates statement earlier this week (even though they were held at 4.35% yet again) but it appears to have already faded. The AAP reports the “drastically stronger than predicted” labour market data yesterday caused economists and traders to scale back their previous predictions of a rate cut finally coming in February. The previous excitement was cut short by the unexpected drop in unemployment to 3.9%. The newswire flags ANZ, Westpac and NAB now reckon the RBA will start its monetary easing cycle in May “given the central bank’s concerns inflation remains too high and unemployment too low”. (Reminder: there’s an election due by May.) Commonwealth Bank still reckons a cut could come in February. For that to happen CBA economist Gareth Aird says trimmed mean inflation (released on January 29) would need to come in below 0.6% (it was 0.8% in September) and the labour market would also need to show signs of softening. The Australian Financial Review says yesterday’s figures cemented Australia’s jobs market “as among the strongest in the developed world”. The paper quotes economists as saying the slowing private sector and employment gains meant “the bulk of the jobs created last month were likely in government-funded industries such as public service, healthcare and education”. Betashares chief economist David Bassanese is quoted as saying: “A low unemployment rate alone should not stand in the way of lower official interest rates next year if inflation continues to decline. Instead, falling inflation and still-low unemployment — were that to occur — should force the RBA to reconsider what it deems to be the non-inflationary rate of unemployment — from its current assumption of 4.5%.” Treasurer Jim Chalmers tried to maintain the enthusiasm at the start of the week by saying: “More jobs and better pay are key parts of our plan to help ease cost of living pressures.” Elsewhere, the AFR provides a few more details on yesterday’s announcement about the payments facing tech firms if they don’t agree to deals to pay news publishers. The paper reports: “Apple and Microsoft could also be caught by the new policy with their Apple News and LinkedIn products respectively if they meet the threshold of having Australian revenue greater than $250 million a year.” The paper also flags AMP has invested $27 million in bitcoin, becoming the first major superannuation fund to buy into cryptocurrency. Finally, The Wall Street Journal flags Meta has donated US$1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund. The Guardian says the donation “appears to be the latest effort by the social media company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg , to improve relations with the incoming president, and comes just weeks after Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago”. ON A LIGHTER NOTE... If you’ve ever wanted diamante-encrusted spectacles in the shape of the Sydney Opera House, have we got the auction for you! In February next year, Christie’s in London will auction 250 items from the personal collection of the late Barry Humphries. As well as the pair of glasses from his infamous Dame Edna Everage character, paintings by artist Charles Conder and a first edition copy of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest are also being sold at the auction, the Press Association reports. Benedict Winter , associate director of private and iconic collections at Christie’s, said: “ Barry Humphries is best remembered for his comedic genius, but behind his famous figure was a true polymath and connoisseur. “This refined and engaging collection provides compelling insights into the private world of this very public performer.” Say What? I will not touch bread if it is moist. Kemi Badenoch The Conservative Party leader claimed this week “lunch is for wimps”, sandwiches are not real food and she sometimes has steak brought to her while she works. The UK Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said in response that the PM enjoyed a sandwich lunch (tuna, in case you were wondering) “and occasionally a cheese toastie”. The row continues. CRIKEY RECAP Australia’s media movers and shakers on the biggest threats to journalism DAANYAL SAEED Joe Aston, Kate McClymont, Waleed Aly, Janine Perrett and Sue Chrysanthou (Image: Private Media) It has been a dire, unpredictable year for the Australian media. Jobs have been cut en masse , outlets grappled with ideals of objectivity, newspapers prosecuted campaigns that could see wholesale changes to how audiences interact with news, new outlets formed , others died , there were landmark defamation decisions and investigations into newsroom culture, and an executive allegedly shoulder-charged a reporter. After a year of volatility, job cuts, uncertainty and brilliance, Crikey chased down Australia’s biggest media figures — from journalists to editors to defamation lawyers to academics — to pick their brains about our industry. What they shared has formed the backbone of a multi-part Crikey series, Movers and Shakers , holding a mirror up to the industry and asking it to reflect on itself. Labor elevates early childhood education as Coalition tells regions: less childcare for you BERNARD KEANE It’s hard to know whether the Coalition’s support for retaining the activity test is driven by fiscal discipline — difficult to believe given the hundreds of billions it plans to waste on nuclear power — or by hostility to low-income families. It is, after all, the Dutton style to prefer identifying people to demonise rather than make policy work better. But the Coalition’s formal position is now that children — and, in the long-term, the community — should be deprived of the benefits of early childhood education because their parents are assessed as not worthy. The fact that the Coalition will go to the election telling outer suburban and regional communities that it will be withdrawing funding for more childcare services is likely to be something Labor will constantly draw attention to. Indeed, the Coalition will go to the election as the first party in decades actively promising to cut childcare and childcare funding. On the other hand, Labor, backed by the Productivity Commission and even the business community, is investing in “long-term economic benefits” and “maximising the human talent pipeline of our nation”. Even this shambolic outfit can’t mess that up... surely? Nicolette Boele ‘gave up’ on politics over Labor’s climate inaction. Now she wants to win a Liberal seat RACHEL WITHERS Did the backlash to the speech contribute to Fletcher throwing in the towel? “I don’t know what was in Mr Fletcher’s mind,” Boele tells me. “If you can see your main opponent, and it’s a two-horse race, has been in the field for that long ... Maybe the 12 letters to The Sydney Morning Herald as soon as he insulted everybody was a feedback loop that he needed.” Boele has been critical of the speech, arguing it showed little respect for Fletcher’s constituents. Her statement about it was titled , “Bradfield voters aren’t dopes, Paul”. When I ask how it made her feel, she gives a very teal answer. “It was disappointing, but it wasn’t a surprise. I get very protective, kind of a mum instinct, with the constituents. Like, hang on a second, what do you mean we’re dim-witted? Obviously there were some overtones about the gendered part of it, too, which I didn’t take very nicely to.” READ ALL ABOUT IT John Pesutto defies calls to resign after being ordered to pay $300,000 for defaming Moira Deeming ( Guardian Australia ) Sydney street artist revealed as man found not guilty of two counts of rape ( The Sydney Morning Herald ) ($) Donald Trump 2024 TIME Person of the Year ( TIME ) Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency (Associated Press) Trump’s Middle East adviser pick is a small-time truck salesman ( The New York Times ) ($) Mystery New Jersey drones not from Iranian ‘mothership’ — Pentagon (BBC) THE COMMENTARIAT Peter Dutton’s nuclear policy would have coal-fired power stations operating for a lot longer — Michelle Grattan (ABC): The release of the costings unleashes a tsunami of claims and counterclaims about numbers. That debate will be eye-glazing for many voters. Not to worry. We are talking the span of a generation. Numbers that stretch out to 2050 don’t mean a great deal. Hundreds of things — in technology and politics, for starters — can and will change as the years pass. Moreover, numbers from modelling have an extra layer of complexity and uncertainty. They depend heavily on assumptions that are, in many cases, necessarily arbitrary. Anyone inclined to take modelling at face value should reflect on the Labor experience. Before the 2022 election, it released modelling that gave it the basis to promise a $275 reduction in household power bills by next year. We all know what happened to that. Regardless of the problems in attempting to be precise, the broad debate about nuclear’s cost will be intense. Social media gorged itself on a free lunch of news. The buffet could be over — James Massola ( The Sydney Morning Herald ): In an age when hot-takes and “feelpinions” abound, the federal government’s levy on social media giants is designed to shore up the future of news outlets across the country. In regional areas in particular, where local newspapers are part of the fabric of small communities, the measure could slow or halt their retreat. At their press conference announcing the policy, Rowland and Jones argued it was vital that Australians who accessed news through social media had access to “fact-checked information”. One need only look at the spread of dis- and misinformation about vaccines during the pandemic to see why. In the dispute between social and legacy media, it’s clear the government has picked a winner. Now the ball is in Meta’s court to respond.Iowa cornerback Jermari Harris has opted out of the remainder of the 2024 season in order to prepare for the NFL draft, according to a report by 247Sports.com . The 6-foot-1 sixth-year senior from Chicago has recorded 27 tackles, three interceptions and a team-high seven pass breakups in 10 games for the Hawkeyes this season. That includes a pick-6 in a 38-21 win over Troy earlier this season. Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) plays at Maryland on Saturday before closing out its regular season at home against Nebraska on Nov. 29. The Hawkeyes are already bowl eligible, so Harris is likely opting out of three games in total. After missing the entire 2022 season due to an ankle injury, Harris was suspended for two games of the following season for his involvement in the gambling investigation into Iowa athletics. He later emerged as the Hawkeyes' top cornerback, earning the team's comeback player of the year award after compiling 42 tackles, one interception and eight pass breakups. Harris will finish his college career with 105 tackles and eight interceptions. --Field Level MediaPresident-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency during Trump's second term. President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering rolling back the Biden administration's credit for electric vehicles – a move that experts say would have varying effects across the automotive industry. President Biden implemented a tax credit of up to $7,500 to incentivize the purchase of greener vehicles. However, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Trump plans to ax the tax credit as part of his sweep of Biden's climate agenda. While the decision remains in debate among oil and energy advocates, one group promoting public policy on behalf of the natural gas industry suggested that behind the scenes, automotive groups and consumers could feel relieved if the EV credit is eliminated. "Losing $70,000 on an EV is not a winning business model and U.S. automakers know that," said Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association. Stewart said axing the EV tax credit gives members of the auto industry the opportunity to shift back to traditional production lines. HOUSE PASSES BILL TO BOLSTER GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PRODUCTION BY INCREASING LEASE SALE FREQUENCY "If I was a CEO, I would quietly be relieved to have a reason to shift production lines back to traditional models and invest in new hybrid technologies," Stewart told Fox News Digital. "The EV tax credit was the only way to entice consumers to ‘maybe’ purchase something they really didn’t want, but told by the Biden folks they had to buy." FILE - An electric car charges at a mall parking lot on June 27, 2022, in Corte Madera, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) "With the tax credit gone and the onerous Biden regulatory mandates lifted, the new administration is providing the exit ramp the U.S. producers were really hoping for, and U.S. consumers really want." HOUSE PASSES BILL BLOCKING BIDEN ADMIN ATTEMPT TO REQUIRE TWO-THIRDS OF NEW CARS TO BE ELECTRIC WITHIN YEARS However, proponents of the tax credit, such as Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm – and those advocating for the switch to EVs – say its elimination would result in the U.S. being less competitive in the industry. "The auto industry is investing billions of dollars in EV battery and EV manufacturing in the United States. Eliminating the tax credit will hurt the U.S. auto industry and make American manufacturers less globally competitive," said Ingrid Malmgren, senior policy director of Plug In America, a Los-Angeles based nonprofit advocating for the transition to EVs. The elimination of the tax credit could have differing effects across the auto industry, experts say. One of Trump's strongest allies, Tesla CEO Elon Musk , revealed in July that he supports getting rid of the credit. "Take away the subsidies," Musk posted to X, saying "it will only help Tesla." Companies that are financially sound, such as Tesla, could benefit if the playing field for electric vehicles is narrowed, while the smaller companies that rely on the tax credit for consumer affordability could face setbacks, analysts suggest. "Tesla has such a big cost advantage in EVs," said David Whiston, an analyst at financial services firm Morningstar Inc, according to a report from CPA Practicing Advisor. "Getting rid of that tax credit wouldn’t necessarily hurt them." Dan Ives, a senior equity research analyst covering the technology sector at Wedbush Securities with a focus on EVs, conducted a review of the market impact on Tesla if the EV credit is removed. "While this is a clear negative for the EV industry at first look and would particularly hurt GM, Ford, Stellantis, and Rivian... on the flip side, we view this as a net bullish move for Tesla and Musk over time," Ives said in a report on Tesla. "We expect Musk to have a big seat at the table as these EV discussions happen within the Trump transition team." "In line with our thoughts over the past few weeks, Tesla has a scale and scope that is unmatched and while losing the EV tax credit could also hurt some demand on the margins in the U.S., this will enable Tesla to further fend off competition from Detroit as pricing/scale/scope is apples to oranges when compared to the rest of the auto industry once the EV tax credit disappears," Ives added. Ives also said that removing the credit could slow down the shift toward EVs in Detroit, specifically. During his campaign, Trump highlighted his intent to target Biden's clean energy-driven initiatives, such as vowing to "cancel the electric vehicle mandate." Find more updates on this story at FOXNews.com.

This week, the Government of Guyana announced agreements with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to pay salary increases to workers represented by the two bodies. During a press conference on Thursday, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo noted that similar arrangements will be concluded with other workers’ unions. “We’re hoping that we will work with the other unions to conclude agreements of a similar nature for the rest of the public servants. If we do not have any agreement with their unions, the 10% increase that we’ve given to the GTU [Guyana Teachers Union] and to the GAWU and to the GPSU will be paid out to those others in the public sector,” he told reporters. The GPSU signed a landmark two-year agreement with the Government which will see public servants receiving a retroactive 10% salary increase effective from January 1, 2024. Public servants will receive a further 8% salary increase in 2025. On Friday, GAWU released a statement in which it disclosed that it has successfully concluded a robust three (3) year wage/salary agreement with the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo). The terms of the agreement include a 10% retroactive across-the-board pay rise for this year, 8% across-the-board pay rise for next year, and an across-the-board pay rise of 9% for 2026. Furthermore, with a shared vision for fairness, the parties have committed to achieving a minimum wage of $100,000 monthly in the sugar industry by January 01, 2025, ensuring that every worker below this threshold will receive additional increases. “This is a great movement forward, it recognises the role our public servants play, it treats them with respect,” Jagdeo said at his press conference.