arrests – fakuto

Australia’s bushfires have had an awful effect on the country’s landscape, residents, and the economy. Though a certain number of fires is normal, it turns out people have been making it a lot worse – and not just by contributing to climate change.

Authorities now reveal that nearly 200 people have been arrested for of bushfire-related misdeeds since November 2019.

Arrests have been made in the states of Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

A total of 183 people have been arrested in relation to 205 offenses according to the latest data. Police in the Australian state of Queensland have found that 103 bushfires were set on purpose. 98 people have been detained in connection to these, and 67 of the perpetrators are underage.

In New South Wales, 53 people will deal with legal consequences because they reportedly ignored the total-fire bans in place. 24 people have been charged for setting bushfires on purpose.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Sydney Morning Herald also reports that 47 people allegedly discarded matches or lit cigarettes improperly, and they are facing charges as a result.

These fires are no joke. Thus far, they have scorched an area of land double the size of Maryland, or roughly 13 million acres.

Because fire in Australia is such a problem, persons caught lighting tobacco or related products near hay, corn, standing crop, or grain can be fined up to $5,500. Lighting a fire during the implementation of a total fire ban, on the other hand, could result in a fine of $5,500 or 12 months in prison.

Those who are formally charged with starting a bushfire could face jail time of up to 25 years.

In the meantime, it’s important to note that although humans may have started some – not all – of the bushfires that have torn through the Aussie countryside, climate change is widely believed to have significantly exacerbated their destructive power. The areas of Australia most affected have had years of drought, and the world is coming off the hottest decade ever recorded, both of which have combined to crisp Australian vegetation into the perfect kindling.

Though some in Australia have been blaming the fires on arson for political purposes – primarily to deny culpability for or the existence of climate change – these fires would not have been so destructive without the warming and drying effects of climate change, and if the world does not step back from the brink, it is possible that this fire season could become the new Australian normal.

The post Nearly 200 People Have Been Arrested in Connection With the Devastating Brushfires in Australia appeared first on UberFacts.

Can you imagine a life without Amazon? What started as a way to buy books online way back when has now evolved into a trillion dollar corporation that’s become a part of our lives in ways we never could have anticipated even a decade ago. Today, we use Amazon to shop, read, sell products, watch television and movies, and even as a personal assistant!

Photo Credit: Pixabay

It’s so big that it shouldn’t come entirely as a surprise that young people are finding ways to defraud the conglomerate.

Amazon’s return and replacement policies, which are generous by industry standards, are the root of the majority of the fraud taking place. And even though they’re not losing money fast enough for it to impact their stock prices or bottom line, the company recently decided to prosecute some of these fraudsters.

One of the cases they’ve brought is against 24-year-old Joseph Sides of Boca Raton, Florida. He was taken to trial on federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The arraignment listed a litany of complaints:

“Between March 2016 and June 2018, Sides created approximately 501 Amazon accounts using false names, multiple email addresses, and altered shipping addresses to place approximately 1227 orders.”

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Simply by telling Amazon sellers that merchandise never came or arrived damaged, he acquired a stunning $229k in merchandise, replacements and refunds. However, since they caught him, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge brought against him.

Last year, Indiana couple Erin and Leah Finan pled guilty to similar charges, except that they had been able to defraud Amazon out of a whopping $1.2 million. They were sentenced to 71 and 68 months in prison, respectively.

These types of retail cons aren’t exactly new. In the days of brick-and-mortar shoplifting, thieves would steal an item from one location and then return it to another belonging to the same company. This is the same type of scam, according to Michael Benza, a criminal law professor at Case Western Reserve University. But, he tells Vice, the prosecutions probably aren’t about the money:

“To most people, $230,000 is a lot of money, but for Amazon, it probably doesn’t do anything to hurt its stock price. However, if a very large number of customers do this to Amazon, the company will see a lot of money going out the door. I imagine in this case, Amazon got involved to send a message to cybercriminals.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Amazon assists in catching these types of offenders in order to save the data it mines from its transactions (yeah, they really do that), and it’s likely they will continue given that these types of online return schemes are on the rise. Red Soto, the director of security research for the cybersecurity firm Jask, told Vice just how quickly they’re popping up:

“Some involve sophisticated groups that purchase programming scripts on the dark web that allows them to automate the creation of fake profiles and follow certain items to purchase. It’s a lot easier to catch one person, but when you have 30 people placing orders at different times and sending items to different addresses and foreign countries, it is a lot harder to track down.”

However, if Amazon’s third quarter earnings report is any indication, the company is doing just fine. They expect some loss, fraud and abuse, and figure it into their bottom line. And, frankly, the retail side of the business is nowhere near as profitable as their web services.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

That said, these recent arrests and prosecutions prove that Amazon isn’t just going to let people get away with defrauding them left and right. So behave out there on the internet, friends. You may be sitting behind a screen, but companies like Amazon see right into your thieving little hearts.

The post The Trend on Amazon That’s Landing People in Jail appeared first on UberFacts.