A.I.-Generated Guidebooks. scam, scammer, mafia, McMafia, capitalize on. A Desperate India Falls Prey to Covid Scammers. As the health care system fails, clandestine markets have emerged for drugs, oxygen, hospital beds and funerals. Fake goods may be putting lives at risk.

A New Frontier for Travel Scammers: A.I.-Generated Guidebooks

Shoddy guidebooks are flooding Amazon. Their authors claim to be renowned travel writers, but are they A.I. inventions? And how big is the problem?

8 MIN READ

They Married for a Life Abroad. But They Never Saw Their Husbands Again.

Thousands of Indian women have been abandoned by men working overseas, leaving them trapped in their in-laws’ homes, and often scammed out of dowries.

A Desperate India Falls Prey to Covid Scammers

As the health care system fails, clandestine markets have emerged for drugs, oxygen, hospital beds and funerals. Fake goods may be putting lives at risk.

Unloading oxygen canisters, a precious commodity in India, at a New Delhi hospital this month. Atul Loke for The New York Times

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Uber demands drivers handle any and all damage claims themselves through their own personal car insurance, even though those insurance companies don’t cover commercial activity. Which means Uber drivers aren’t insured to drive others for money. Which means Uber riders won't collect if there's an accident.

So is Uber a $40 billion success story or a dangerous scam?




WORLD




VIDEO: Cambodia's Scam Orphanages


In Cambodia, less than a quarter of children in orphanages are actual orphans.

Capitalizing on Collapse

By THOMAS B. EDSALL

Many Republicans and Democrats have concluded that they will get more out of the failure of negotiations to cut the deficit than they would out of success.

New Hong Kong leader gets poll boost as anti-China vote fizzles
Reuters
Democratic Party chairman resigns after poor showing. * "Tragic result" sees opposition Democrats fail to capitalise on anti-China sentiment. * Turnout 53 pct, up from 45.2 pct at last election (Adds quotes, background). By James Pomfret. HONG KONG ...




米沙•格伦尼是新书《超级黑帮：揭秘全球地下经济》(McMafia: A Journey through the Global Criminal Underworld)的作者


此處McMafia的Mc 是Mac之簡稱" 無名" 或"麥當勞"等
n. Slang
Used as a form of address for a man whose name is unknown.

[From Mac-, a common prefix in Scottish and Irish surnames.]

Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games?

By Belinda Luscombe

Do you or your kids play FarmVille, Mafia Wars or Restaurant City? Then you may well have some unpleasant surprises on your cell-phone bill

scam (skăm) Slang.
n.
A fraudulent business scheme; a swindle.

tr.v., scammed, scam·ming, scams.
To defraud; swindle.

[Origin unknown.]

scammer scam'mer n.

NOUN

INFORMAL

• A dishonest scheme; a fraud:an insurance scam
  

  MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCESSYNONYMS

VERB (scams, scamming, scammed)

[WITH OBJECT]Back to top  

• Swindle:a guy that scams old pensioners out of their savings
  

  MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

Derivatives

scammer

NOUN

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

Origin

1960s: of unknown origin.

mafia
n.

1. A secret criminal organization operating mainly in the United States and Italy and engaged in illegal activities such as gambling, drug-dealing, protection, and prostitution.
2. Any of various similar criminal organizations, especially when dominated by members of the same nationality.
3. A secret criminal organization operating mainly in Sicily since the early 19th century and known for its intimidation of and retribution against law enforcement officials and witnesses.
4. often mafia Informal. A tightly knit group of trusted associates, as of a political leader: "[He] is one of the personal mafia that [the chancellor] brought with him to Bonn" (Christian Science Monitor).

[Italian, perhaps from dialectal mafia, bluster, boldness.]

mac-
[Irish, ScG, son, son of]

First word of early Irish and Scottish Gaelic patronymics, e.g. Conchobar mac Nessa. When the mac- is lower- case, the patronymic is not a family name: Conchobar is not ‘Mr mac Nessa’. Such figures are alphabetized under their given names, ‘C’ for Conchobar. Mac- is capitalized in two instances: (1) when it is the first element in the only name by which a personage is known, e.g. Mac Cécht; (2) when patronymics became family names under English influence, e.g. Macpherson. See also AP-; FAB; MAB-; UA; UÍ; VAB-.


capitalize
(kăp'ĭ-tl-īz')

v., -ized, -iz·ing, -iz·es. v.tr.

1. To use as or convert into capital.
2. To supply with capital or investment funds: capitalize a new business.
3. To authorize the issue of a certain amount of capital stock of: capitalize a corporation.
4. To convert (debt) into capital stock or shares.
5. To calculate the current value of (a future stream of earnings or cash flows).
6. To include (expenditures) in business accounts as assets instead of expenses.
7. 1. To write or print in capital letters.
   2. To begin a word with a capital letter.

v.intr.
To turn something to one's advantage; benefit: capitalize on an opponent's error. See synonyms at benefit.

capitalizable cap'i·tal·iz'a·ble adj.