Meta disrupts millions of WhatsApp scam accounts as internet schemes rise
Scam accounts were often linked to criminal centers across Southeast Asia, where they run multiple operations at one time, from fraudulent crypto investments to pyramid schemes. Meta warned users that the operations often ask targets to pay up-front to get promised returns or earnings. Later, scammers sometimes show their victims how much they have already 'earned' before asking them to deposit even more money into the scam, according to the company.
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Forbes
32 minutes ago
- Forbes
Walmart's Stock Price Is Up Despite New Transshipment Tariffs
Walmart prides itself on its everyday low prices. Being a low-cost retailer has been a key contributor to Walmart's status as the world's largest retailer. A key reason for Walmart's 'everyday low prices' is the procurement of goods from low-wage, low-cost nations, such as China or India. In 2023, goods from China accounted for 60% of product sales. India is the second largest source of imports. Between January and August 2023, 25% of Walmart's U.S. imports originated in India. Higher tariffs, of course, threaten the EDLP strategy. But the new tariffs on transshipments are even more painful for retailers relying on low-cost foreign imports. The New York Times points out that ever since President Trump began raising tariffs on goods from China during his first term, Chinese companies have raced to set up warehouses in Southeast Asia and Mexico to bypass US tariffs through the use of indirect shipments. On July 31st, Trump signed an executive order targeting transshipments. Goods deemed by the Customs and Border Patrol to have been transshipped to evade applicable country of origin duties are now subject to an additional 40% import tax on top of the applicable country of origin tariff rates. These rates will take effect on August 7th. The legal definition of transshipment is a good that did not undergo a 'substantial transformation' in the country through which it passed. For example, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement requires that at least 75% of cars be manufactured in North America based on North American-sourced components to qualify for duty-free treatment. So, for example, goods that flow to Mexico from China, where final consumer packaging is done, would be a light form of value-add. These goods would almost certainly be considered transhipped products. The executive order did not go into detail on the exact amount of value-add needed to avoid the 'transshipment' designation. Surprisingly, the new transshipment tariffs have not led to a decline in Walmart's stock price. On July 31st, when the new rules were announced, Walmart's stock closed at $97.98. Today, the stock opened at $99.67. Walmart's ability to pass these higher tariff costs on to consumers may be somewhat constrained. In May, Walmart said that it planned to increase prices, possibly by June, to pass along the higher tariff costs. 'We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible, and we won't stop. We'll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can, given the reality of small retail margins,' a Walmart spokesperson explained. Trump strongly disagreed with that idea. He wrote on Truth Social that Walmart needs to stop using tariffs as an excuse for increasing prices across its stores. And said that with Walmart having seen enormous profits last year, Walmart should absorb the costs associated with tariffs, instead of passing them on to customers. Walmart has worked to get its foreign suppliers to absorb some of the higher costs. Walmart asked several Chinese apparel and kitchenware suppliers to cut prices by up to 10% per tariff round. For many of these suppliers, Walmart is by far their largest customer and thus has substantial negotiating leverage. But these price decrease requests are much larger than what suppliers are used to. Further, the Chinese government is pushing back. According to The Wall Street Journal, Chinese officials summoned Walmart executives following complaints from suppliers. Authorities criticized the retailer's demands as unfair, warning that forcing suppliers to absorb tariff costs could breach contracts and disrupt market stability. Legal consequences were reportedly mentioned during the discussions. China can help exporters by devaluing its currency, which lowers the price of exports. They're also giving tax breaks and other incentives to their exporters, trying to keep them afloat. These tactics are something they have done in the past. But these things have been roundly criticized by the US and other Western nations. Experts on retailing say that, despite the President's call for retailers to 'eat the tariffs,' retailers will not be willing to absorb all of those increased prices. 'This idea that the president says, 'Listen, retailers, eat the tariffs.' That's not going to happen,' Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank explained. Suppliers, retailers, and customers will all absorb some of the higher costs driven by tariffs. Even before the transshipment announcement, Walmart was struggling to forecast results. The retail giant did not release a profit outlook for the first quarter of the year due to the uncertainty surrounding the economy and tariff-related costs. Walmart on Thursday shared that its profits slipped in the first quarter of the year to $4.45 billion. It's difficult to understand why Walmart's stock price did not slump. Was it because many don't fully understand the potential impact of the transshipment tariffs? Or is it because Walmart has a strong history of growth despite headwinds? Or do some believe this transshipment rule will be difficult to enforce? How could US Customs and Border Patrol detect transshipments? If we take Walmart as an example, and assume they wanted to avoid transshipment tariffs (which I do not assume), the CBP would look for changing patterns in shipment origins. Walmart operates 20 distribution centers in Mexico. These warehouses are advertised as supporting the Mexican market. If shipments from these DCs started flowing across the border to the US, that would be evidence that Walmart is looking to avoid transshipment tariffs. What would be more challenging for the CPB to detect is a shift from FOB at origin to FOB at destination. FOB stands for "freight on board." The term is used to describe the point in a transaction where a product being shipped becomes the property of the buyer. In an FOB Origin shipping arrangement, the buyer is the owner of the product as soon as it leaves the point of origin. In an FOB Destination shipping arrangement, the shipment becomes the property of the buyer when it reaches a specified destination in the shipping process. In general, in an FOB destination contract, the seller of products plans all the logistics. In FOB origin arrangement, the buyers often designate which shipping company to use and even which lane a shipment should move on. Large companies frequently believe that by taking responsibility for logistics, they can save money. But a shift to FOB at origin contracts could allow suppliers to more easily evade transshipment duties by adding an extra port to the end-to-end shipment and thus sell prices to a retailer at a lower price.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Marjorie Taylor Greene asks Trump to commute George Santos' prison sentence
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants President Donald Trump to commute the prison sentence of her disgraced former colleague George Santos, who's been locked up less than two weeks. Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison for committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in April. He checked into New Jersey's Federal Correctional Fairton, located about 140 miles from Manhattan, on July 25. In her petition to the Office of the U.S. Pardon Attorney, Greene asks for Trump to consider setting the former representative from Queens free sooner than later. 'As a Member of Congress, I worked with Mr. Santos on many issues and can attest to his willingness and dedication to serve the people of New York who elected him to office,' Greene wrote. She conceded that Santos should be punished for his crimes, but believes his 7-year sentence is too severe. 'While his crimes warrant punishment, many of my colleagues who I've serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges,' she claimed without offering examples. After lying about nearly all of his academic and professional qualifications to get elected to Congress in 2022, Santos was charged with crimes including a scheme to steal financial information from campaign contributors, then repeatedly charging those accounts without permission. He was expelled from the House of Representatives in December 2023. Greene wrote in her letter that commuting Santos' sentence would be an acknowledgement by the President that Santos had committed crimes, while also allowing him the opportunity to serve his community as a free man. Greene didn't specify when she believes Santos should be released. She concluded her request by using a term often used by the President in social media posts. 'Thank you for your attention to this matter,' Greene wrote. Santos complained in the days leading to his imprisonment that his pardon requests were not getting the President's attention. Trump has used his clemency power to excuse more than 1,500 criminals convicted on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and has not ruled out pardoning high-profile sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, but he hasn't showed an interest in working with Santos. Santos surrendered to prison authorities after bidding a dramatic adieu to supporters. 'Well, darlings… The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed,' he wrote on X before going to prison.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Vedanta's Q1 Adjusted Profit Surges 10% to $584 million
MUMBAI, India, Aug. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- India based, Vedanta Limited (BSE: 500295 & NSE: VEDL), the country's leading critical minerals, transition metals, energy & technology conglomerate announced its results for the first quarter ended 30th June 2025 on 31st July 2025. Vedanta delivered robust financials with adjusted PAT* jumping 10% year-on-year (YoY) to $ 584 million. The company clocked the highest ever first quarter EBITDA of $1.3 billion, up 2% YoY. Vedanta's EBITDA margin** improved by 81 bps to 35% YoY, highest in the last 13 quarters. The company's consolidated revenue for Q1 stood at $4.4 billion, up 4% YoY. Vedanta's liquidity improved 29% YoY with cash and cash equivalent of $2.6 billion. The company's Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) improved by 87 bps YoY to 25%. Credit ratings for Vedanta were reaffirmed at AA by both CRISIL and ICRA. Prominent brokerages such as Citi, Investec, JP Morgan, Bank of America (BofA) have maintained their ratings and forecast strong earnings growth during FY26 and FY27 highlighting market confidence in Vedanta's growth story. Anil Agarwal - Chairman Vedanta, said, "Our Q1FY26 performance has set a strong foundation for the year ahead. Even amidst global market volatility, we delivered strong broad-based performance and long-term value creation." The company clocked record quarterly alumina production at 587 KT, up 9% YoY with lowest hot metal cost (ex-alumina) at 888 $/t in the last 16 quarters and overall aluminum cost of production lower by 12% QoQ. Vedanta's zinc operations in India achieved highest ever Q1 mined metal production and lowest Q1 cost of production at US$1,010/t. The company's international zinc operations witnessed a 50% YoY jump in mined metal production with overall cost of production at $1269/t. The company also recently commissioned 950 MW of merchant power capacity in its two thermal power plants in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh and southern state of Andhra Pradesh. About Vedanta: Vedanta is a global leader in critical minerals, transition metals, energy, and technology, with operations spanning India, South Africa, Namibia, Liberia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Visit - USD-INR exchange rate of 85.57 *PAT Adjusted for key one-offs: Cairn OALP Exploration cost written off (net of tax) in 1QFY26 and 4QFY25 and DTA of unutilized tax losses at ASI in 1QFY25 **EBITDA margin (ex-copper) View original content: SOURCE Vedanta Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
