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Between the ability to make a purchase from your mobile device at the push of a button to the fear of missing out that can leave you chasing every new iteration of your smartphone, technology has a way of making it easy to spend money. Balancing that is the fact that technology also makes it easier than ever to use your money wisely, get control of your spending habits and build wealth. The tips below can help you use tech for smart money management.
Comparison Shop
Even if you prefer to do your shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, you can look online to compare prices and make sure you're getting the best deal possible. Some products will scan for the best prices after you take a photo of the item or scan its barcode. However, comparison shopping online doesn't stop here. You can look for better rates on auto insurance, lower utility prices and better terms for loans. You can even find good opportunities for refinancing existing loans. These payments can be especially burdensome and the interest can add up over time, but if interest rates have fallen and your credit score has improved recently, you should be able to find lenders willing to refinance your student loan at a lower rate. With lower monthly payments, this can save you a great deal of money over the long term.
Plan for Retirement
Increasingly, Silicon Valley is realizing that they've been ignoring a market of baby boomers who are tech-savvy and maybe even investment-savvy but who still struggle to navigate the unfamiliar waters of retirement. A number of new products are starting to appear that offer a range of services. Time will tell which of these are useful enough to survive, but they include products that help retired people and people approaching retirement understand their options for Medicaid, Social Security and more. This is often unknown territory even for relatively financially sophisticated boomers. Some products offer a free version alongside a paid version that allows users to work with a financial adviser. Others are designed for financial advisers themselves, helping them design options that will create income generation for their retired clients.
Budgeting and Saving
In contrast, programs and apps that help you with budgeting and saving have been around for a while although there are always new and improved products hitting the market. The value of many of these tools is the degree to which they automate the process of tracking your spending and helping you budget. Many offer you the opportunity to connect your bank account. If you make most of your purchases electronically, this can give you a clear picture of your spending. This is handy information to have even if you don't need to do any hard-core budgeting. If you're working to get out of debt, it can be invaluable in helping you understand and change your habits to save more. Using tech can also be a great way to get your children more interested in learning about finances and making responsible choices with money with apps developed particularly for certain age groups that gamify or otherwise make the process fun.
Source: Pexels
With the number of applications and basic functionality only increasing, people are spending more and more time on their smartphones.
Checking your email and instant messages, surfing the Internet, watching videos, posting on social media sites, and playing video games can be great pastimes and studies have shown today's smartphone users in the United States are doing all of that, spending about one-third of their waking hours on the phone. Unfortunately, most of this activity is not very productive, but there are ways to turn it all around and get your smartphone working for you.
In fact, there are literally dozens of smartphone apps on the market where users can earn real money and rewards, instead of just wasting time.
Live Life On The Go
Imagine an app that paid you for going about the business of your day and chronicling your activity the same way you already do on social media.
‘Gigwalk' is such an app for iOS and Android users. This app pays you to do things like visit certain retail outlets or restaurants in your area. The catch is you might have to take pictures or make videos about the experience, but if you're as active on social media as most smartphone users, you're probably already doing that anyway.
Play Online Poker
Playing online poker is one of the original ways to earn money on the Internet. Considered a skill game more than just a gamble, there's millions of dollars being fought over on online poker sites every week.
Online poker giant PokerStars offers a full slate of mobile apps to help you brush up on your poker skills and play the game on the go. There may be some risk involved, but the rewards can be plentiful.
Watch Videos
If you're interested in the latest games and apps for your smartphone, you might already be watching promotional videos without getting paid for it. ‘AppTrailers' can make sure that never happens again. This app offers users credits for watching videos of different app promotions, including videos from some of the most popular video game designers in the market today, like EA and Rovio.
The app is free and the more videos you watch the more points you earn and the points are redeemable for things like PayPal cash and Amazon Gift Cards.
‘The Watch & Earn' app is another option. This app gives users coins for watching promotional app videos as well as downloading the apps themselves. The coins can be traded in for gift cards from places including Amazon and Google Play, as well as PayPal cash.
Download Apps
If you're downloading and checking out all the latest apps for your smartphone already, there's no reason not to get paid for it. ‘AppBounty' pays out gift cards to users who download the apps it suggests. The rewards include gift cards for the Playstation Network, XBox, and iTunes among others.
Similarly, ‘Tap Cash Rewards' hands out Skype, Google Play, and Target gift cards to users who download apps and log in every day.
‘Cash Gift - Free Gift Cards' is another free app that takes earning money by downloading apps to the next level. Not only does the app offer the opportunity to earn by downloading apps and watching promotional videos, but it will pay you for completing certain tasks as well. ‘Cash Gift - Free Gift Cards' offers gift cards for the Google Play Store, Amazon and PayPal and the app claims it has paid out more than $1 million in cash to users already.
Take Surveys
They say opinions are like noses, as everybody has one. Apps like ‘Survey Mini' and ‘Surveys On The Go' can make sure you get paid for them.
‘Survey Mini' helps users earn money by answering survey questions about locations they go to. It works in conjunction with the GPS on your smartphone.
In the meantime, ‘Surveys On The Go' hosts a number of surveys about the latest TV shows and movies, or specific products and shopping experiences.
Introduction
Do you want to earn $100 daily from home by working just for a few hours? Then you are in the right place. It always feels better to work in home condition. And what's more, comforting is when you have to work for 2 hours only. That sure sounds good.
Being an entrepreneur and working for yourself is the best feeling you can ever have. No annoying co-workers, no nagging boss, no boring meetings, and the paycheck is what you earn. There is a 0% initial investment. What's more, you can ask about your work life.
Here are some of the home-based business ideas that will make money for you.
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Renting out your home
Renting out your empty home can be a prime choice to earn an income. Let's say you have a guest house that has been for decades and you have been using that house as a storehouse. You can prepare that room for the guest and can find tenants for the room. This method is more like a passive income than normal income methods.
It is not necessary that you have to keep tenants on a monthly basis. If you want you can also charge per night as well (depending on the place you are living in).
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Invest in real estate
The real estate business can be considered more like an alternative investment. You can buy and sell the houses in these methods. You also have different types of properties you can sell, such as duplex houses or condo units. Depending on the location, some properties can be cheaper or more expensive than others. And the profit that comes with this business made it hard to ignore this method. This method is more like a long term investment, as your property can be sold in a matter of months and sometime it may take more than a couple of years.
Once you become proficient enough, you just need to work for a few hours a day making phone calls to seal the deal and that it. You will be independent and self-employed.
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Invest in share market
The share market has always been a place to making fortune. Take high risks and you will be rewarded with high profits. The share market is growing at a rapid rate. This change in the market has given rise to may platform. These platforms help their users with assistance in the decision-making process. bitqt is one such platform, from where you can use cryptocurrencies to place your bid in the share market to buy shares of the company.
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Start your blog
Starting a blog site can be the best thing you can do if you love sharing your experiences. It is a way to share your experience and knowledge and in return, you will reward with the loyal audience on your website. Yes, it is hard and takes some to grow your audience and monetize your site. But once you are over with it, you will be glad you chose this career. Sharing your experience from your home that's all you will ever be needed for a blog site.
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Social media experts
Social media is one of the trendy topics today. The social media platform is the busiest place on earth. With more than billions of active users, it provides a medium for the companies to interact with their audiences. If you think that you are proficient enough, you can use this opportunity to build your carer as a social media expert and can outsource your skill to the needy companies.
Conclusion
In daily commutes, normal communication between colleagues and co-workers is not for everyone's fancy. So why not go for jobs that you can do from home. Working from home means that you can take your own calls and work as per your own condition.
Following the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 which suffered from initial reports out of Korea's Samsung about overheating in early mock-ups causing a delay in the release of one of their flagship phones, the Snapdragon 820 is expected to re-establish Qualcomm's leadership position in mobile-specific microchips.
Samsung develops its own Exynos range of SoC that it puts into model variants, particularly in Asian markets, which it used when Qualcomm came up short with the 810. The Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ and Note 5 all used Samsung's over SoC instead of Qualcomm. However, the latter chip-maker is roaring back with its upcoming 820.
Leaked benchmark scores for both Geekbench and AnTuTu indicate that the Snapdragon 820 is likely to outperform the collection of competitors with their best 2015 releases. The benchmark scores beat the Note 5 and even matched the iPhone 6S Plus in some off-screen tests while lagging a little with the on-screen ones.
The test screenshots refer to the SD820 being used on a 6.2-inch smartphone with an eye-gouging 1600x2560 resolution with 4 GB of RAM. Clearly the 820 was being pushed hard with the sheer number of pixels being moved around on the screen during the testing on the Android 6.0 platform. In fact, the number of pixels being managed on-screen far exceeds that of the iPhone S6 Plus which likely explains the on-screen under-performance compared to the Apple model.
LeTV announced the Le Max Pro will use the 820, but Samsung is also expected to release details about the Galaxy S7 in a couple of weeks which is likely to adopt the new Qualcomm technology in some of its phone variants.
With an Android smartphone, you can do a lot. Aside from all the usual phone calls, video messages and social media posts, you can amend documents, show presentations and stream films and music. For those who are interested in managing their money and watching it grow, there are some Android apps just for that!
A quick look in the Google Play Store will show a sizeable number of financial apps. Ones for the latest financial news, market data and even trading will prove valuable if you want the best possible return on your investment. When investing, there is a lot to think about, from the amount you want to invest to where you want to put your money.
Choosing an App
You need to choose the right app first. Consider when, where and how you would like to invest your hard-earned cash. When using any investment app, make sure that your bank card details are easily available. Otherwise, you won't be able to invest your money! Also, be sure that you have enough funds in your account to invest in the first place.
If you don't like to take too many risks, Acorns is a good starting point. This simple app allows you to invest your spare change in a safe and quick way. You can put a few cents or pence into different stocks and keep track of your money whenever you like. Any change left over from buying a coffee or pizza could be stored away in a stock of your choice.
Picking a Market
Before you invest, think about which markets are most likely to make you money. An app that has plenty of markets to choose from will give you more opportunities to explore. The Oanda fxTrade app offers over 120 currency pairs and instruments to work with, all while offering live market data.
To start, pick something to trade with, choose an amount of money you want to invest and then you can trade instantly. Live data and access to the latest financial news is a must for any would-be trader. If you have it on your smartphone, ready to read, you will be able to make a more informed decision on where to invest.
Latest News
If you need financial news, Feedly is a one-stop app for all kinds of stories. It pools news items from many different sources, with specific areas for business and financial stories. Not having to go between websites and apps for financial data will save investors time and give them an idea of what to put their money on.
For some of the more obscure markets and stocks, the Investing.com app provides data from markets all over the world. Accessing historical stats on this app will boost your decision making, as well as educate you about how different stocks work.
Next time you pick up your phone, you could also be picking up cash.
As mobile devices become increasingly "smarter," it is harder than ever for users to put down their phones. In 2016, Ofcom reported that nearly two thirds of UK's population now own a smartphone. The study showed that this group spends nearly two hours every day using their mobile devices to browse the internet, shop online or post on social media. If you are one of these frequent mobile users, then it's time you started earning extra money online. After all, your time is valuable too.
Making money right from your mobile device has never been easier. While there are virtually unlimited options, these four ways may be the quickest.
Download Apps That Pay
There are numerous apps that will pay you for your time. This may sound too good to be true, but it is incredibly simple as long as you have the free time.
Some apps, like Shopkick or Easy Shift, let you earn money by visiting stores you already shop at anyway. Scan barcodes and check prices to help businesses check their retail products. Companies will even pay you for putting their advertisements on your phone's lock screen.
If you want to get out and be more active, Gigwalk posts tasks related to verifying the name or location of street signs, roads or landmarks. GymPact will pay you to work out and then charge you for missed days, helping hold you accountable for your exercise routine.
Each app offers a different pay scale. Research which earning rate and activity level is right for you.
Play Online Games for Money
Online gaming isn't just sitting in front of your computer. There are websites that offer the chance to earn real money simply by playing.
Fantasy sports websites have become increasingly popular because of their strategy-based game play and immediate results. Learning the details of how to play these games successfully, however, can be overwhelming. You have to have a strong knowledge base in these various sports in order to be profitable.
If you are looking for something equally fun and easier to play, try online gambling websites. Live casino and betting websites feature classic card and table games that anyone can jump right in and play. Try your luck spinning the Roulette wheel or double down with a hand of Blackjack.
These games are such a great way to put a little extra cash in your wallet because you get to play while also making money.
Sell Your Stuff Online
Using your smartphone can turn cleaning out your closet into quick cash.
By posting unwanted or unused items on eBay, you can check two different items on your to-do list; you can make money and get rid of clutter.
If you like crafts, Etsy is another great resource that can match your talents with a potential buyer. Create hand-made products, post them to your portal and sell them immediately.
Although both of these give you huge ability to make money, there are some barriers to instant success. In order to actually sell goods on these websites, you must have a product that is in demand and that someone is willing to buy. Selling on these platforms require skill and patience. Both of these problems can be solved with research and studying effective selling strategies. And, even though these companies will take a small fee, it is still cheaper than starting and promoting your own business website.
Offer Freelance Work
You may not have a product to sell, but you might have a skill.
Whether it is writing, drawing, editing or just offering advice, there is growing market for services online. Known as the "gig" economy, you can sell a variety of specialty services through companies, such as Fiverr. Since you are paid by the project and your starting pay may be small, you may have to build a client base and generate positive reviews before you can really begin to earn.
If you are into photography, you could sell you work to a large, resource website, like Shutterstock. Because this doesn't require much effort to do, many people take advantage of this opportunity. You may have to be persistent and creative to get your items sold.
While you have to make an initial deposit at almost every online casino, you can also make a good deal of money by taking advantage of free spin offers. You can use this money to finance play online slots of your choice, or simply pocket the earnings and quit while you're ahead. To get the most out of free spins, you need to know the bonus structure of the online casino and you need to have enough patience to wait for the spins to pay off.
No Deposit Casino Bonuses
The first thing you need to do in order to start making money off free spins is to look for casinos that offer a no deposit bonus. This is just as it sounds-a bonus where you don't have to deposit any money into your account. These bonuses usually come in the form of free spins at the casino's slot games. The idea is that you'll enjoy the slots so much that you'll come back to spend real money on them. No deposit bonuses often come as a result of special events or weekly bonus opportunities, so keep your eye out for offerings at the online casino of your choice.
Initial Deposit Bonuses
The vast majority of online casinos also offer bonuses on your initial deposit. This usually comes in the form of both amatching credit and free spins. The matching credit means that you get some percentage of your deposit amount as extra money that you can use at the casino. In many cases, the credit is up to 100% of your first deposit. This means that you could put down the minimum initial deposit and then use your bonus credit and free spins to rack up some more money at the slots.
For example, online casino to play for real money in Australia, CasinoChan, offers free spins for a variety of slot games as a package with their deposit bonuses.
You won't usually win a lot of money from using free spins, but the winnings can pile up if you choose you stay patient.
Look for casinos that offer free spins as part of their bonus structure and which have special events that give you more opportunities. You can then start to earn real money from virtual slots.
Online gaming sites can be a honey source for money laundering. And if casino operators slip up the chance to detect such attempts or simply lack the appropriate measures, they can have their license revoked and even face penalties.
One such illustrative example is the trendiest scandal of The Star Entertainment Group in 2022. According to Sarah Court, ASIC Deputy Chair, Star’s board and executives failed to prevent money laundering at its Sydney Casino. If in a few words, the Star Entertainment Group allowed 1,222 users to gamble over $617.6 million via high-risk payment channels. As a result, the company’s NSW license was suspended, and it was fined $62 million dollars. And similar cases are more than enough in the iGaming space.
Actually, gaming operators have much remaining on their plates that need to be done when it comes to fighting against money laundering. The most crucial thing they can do is to implement an efficient CDD (Customer Due Diligence) check and follow AML processes.
However, even these can sometimes not be enough to confront powerful hacking attacks and malicious acts. Gambling organizations first need to learn how to identify suspicious behavior and what the most common laundering schemes are to minimize the risk.
In this article, we will shed light on the 6 most used types of money laundering techniques hackers practice in online casinos. So, get comfortable and let's begin.
What Are the Most Widespread Money Laundering Schemes in Online Gaming — Top 6
When it comes to money laundering, it can take up different shapes at both KYC and withdrawal without verification casinos. Here, we have highlighted the most common ones.
#1 Cash-in, Cash-out
Probably, this is the most typical and the simplest money laundering scheme in the gambling sector. The essence of this method is as follows: a malicious actor just exchanges dirty money with casino chips in physical gambling venues or electronic money in online casinos. Then, these chips or electronic funds are used to play various casino games before the scammer cashes them out as clean money in the form of a check (in physical casinos) or online winnings (in online casinos).
As a result, dirty funds can be mistaken for money earned at a gambling site. Normally, fixed-odds betting terminals are used in this method since they let the player only lose a small amount when cashing out.
One such example is the case in 2006 when a lawyer from Virginia used this cash-in, cash-out approach to launder $250,000 at the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. To make it possible, he first transferred $250,000 embezzled money into a betting account, then purchased a casino marker with $10,000, lost $1,000, and cashed out the remaining funds.
#2 The Vancouver Model
If we go back to the time period between 2008 and 2018, we can see that gambling establishments in Vancouver were massively used to launder money in large sums from China. The reason for this was the restriction imposed on Chinese citizens, according to which they were prohibited from bringing more than $50,000 out of the country. That's when criminals in Vancouver thought of a workaround and offered it to local players.
The scheme required people to wire funds to the Chinese banking account of a Vancouver-based crime gang. Upon their arrival in Vancouver, they could get cash in exchange.
In the next step, they just needed to take this cash to a casino in Vancouver, place several small bets, and then cash it out as casino winnings. As a result, it will be cleaned of its illegal source.
#3 Collusion Between Gamers
Another money laundering strategy is the Collusion Between Players. If in simple words, it requires one gamer to intentionally “lose” their dirty money, which was exchanged for physical casino chips or electronic money beforehand, to an accomplice gamer at online or brick-and-mortar casinos, for example, in a poker game. This way, the money is no longer related to its criminal roots and can easily be withdrawn as “clean” funds.
The “advantage” of this method is that it gives launderers a chance to escape any AML detection policies, as currently, they can only be triggered by successful bets against the gambling platform itself and not other gamers.
#4 Exchanging Goods Through Gambling
This method allows a gamer to clean their funds at the same time as they receive illegal money and sell illegal goods. Simply put, both the seller of illegal goods (like weapons or drugs) and the buyer takes part in the same casino game. This way, the buyer can easily send funds to the seller through the bet or game using the player-to-player transfer option. Then, the seller cashes out the money from their payment account in exchange for goods. It is quite efficient if we look from the criminal perspective.
Technically, as funds come via gambling, they can't simply be traced as an illicit transaction.
#5 Purchasing Chips from Someone Else
The next common method of money laundering is when people try to clean their funds by buying casino chips or the winnings of other players at a higher price. For instance, the launderers can approach jackpot winners at a poker game venue and offer them cash at a premium in exchange for their winning cheques.
In some cases, these malicious actors can even pay off the gambling debts of the gamer in return for getting payments in the form of chips later.
#6 Mixing Non-Gambling and Gambling Methods
More professional criminal groups are practicing various ways to further conceal traces of funds laundered through gambling sites. They typically involve virtual assets like NFTs, cryptos or even property purchases to achieve their goal.
Simply put, criminals use their dirty money to place small bets at online casinos, which will help them clean their money and then use these funds to buy various properties. Later, they sell these properties and cash out money.
Through this method, criminal groups try to confuse authorities by masking the origin of the money.
Key Vulnerabilities in Online Casinos
Both land-based and online gambling venues are often abused by criminals to launder money. The cause of such frequent hacks lies in the security vulnerabilities that most online casino platforms come with.
Overall, according to FATF (The Financial Action Task Force), there are multiple potential vulnerabilities that gambling operators might have that result in money laundering. These cover:
- Transferring funds between customers;
- Cash payments;
- Deposit accounts;
- Third parties;
- Multiple accounts;
- Identity fraud;
- Receiving crime proceeds;
- Multiple operators.
Even though these are not the only “faulty elements” that lead to illegal activities, they are still the key ones.
In order to prevent or minimize the risk of money laundering cases, gambling operators should implement some precautionary measures. The most common ones cover:
- Utilizing customer due diligence procedures (gathering personal data, verifying the source of money, etc.);
- Integrating KYC procedures;
- Reporting suspicious transfers;
- Organizing employee training from time to time, etc.
And don't forget about the most effective method, which requires compliance with AML regulations.
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