Happy Friday! It’s December 27, and we’re tracking top stories to take you into the weekend: Young mayor turns town into Pig Butchering hub, China sanctions military firms over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, Putin turns to crypto, Mexican cartels test fentanyl on defenseless people and animals, and much more…

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Featured Story

🎯 How a Young Mayor Turned Her Town Into a Hub for ‘Pig Butchering’ Scammers. Meet the criminal enclave in the Philippines from which Chinese gangs targeted people around the world. WSJ

🎙️IE Originals: Uncovering Pig Butchering with Erin West DESIGNATED

Top Stories

🌎 China sanctions military firms and executives over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan Reuters 

🌎 Russia is mining a hot cryptocurrency, trying to solve one big trade problem BI

🌎 Russia Imposes 6-Year Ban on Crypto Mining in 10 Regions CoinDesk

🌎 How Mexican Cartels Test Fentanyl on Vulnerable People and Animals NYT

🌎 South Korea sanctions 15 North Koreans for crypto heists Cointelegraph

🌎 Japan Regulator Orders Aeon Bank to Fix Money Laundering Gaps Bloomberg

🌎 EU preparing sanctions on Russia's 'shadow fleet' after Baltic Sea cable damaged Euro News

🌎 The Bank Behind the Fintech Revolution Stumbles After Customer Funds Go Missing WSJ

🌎 California busts 177 sticky-fingered grinches in organized shoplifting ring crackdown NYP

🌎 Republicans succeed in clawing back more IRS tax-cheat enforcement funds MarketWatch

🌎 New York to fine fossil fuel companies $75B under new climate law Reuters

🌎 The Worst Hacks of 2024 Wired 

🌎 Emerging Threats & Vulnerabilities to Prepare for in 2025 Dark Reading

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Russia

🇷🇺 Sanctioned Russian LNG Ship Fails Four-Month Quest for Buyer Bloomberg 

🇷🇺 Raiffeisen Russia court case to continue on Jan. 20 Reuters 

🇷🇺 U.S. citizen jailed in Russia for 15 years leaked biotechnology secrets Reuters 

🇷🇺 Gazprom Expects Revenue From Gas Sales to Beat Plan This Year Bloomberg

China

🇨🇳 Chinese tricksters take cue from Squid Game to prey on the indebted Reuters

🇨🇳 U.S. could look to Montana after China's critical minerals embargo NBC

🇨🇳 2 more Chinese generals fall after anti-corruption drive delivers big changes to military SCMP

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 AML cases pile up in 2024 American Banker

💸 New York vows to ‘fill the gaps’ left by Trump’s regulation rollback FT 

💸 South Korea's acting president impeached as Yoon goes on trial Reuters

💸 Dubai authorities uncover Dh640m money laundering scheme National

💸 Former Presidential candidate in Taiwan indicted for corruption AP

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family Wired 

🔐 Dark Web cybercriminals are buying up ID to bypass KYC methods Tech Radar 

🔐 Dark Web Facial ID Farm Warning – Hackers Build Identity Fraud Database Forbes 

🔐 Half a million people had data stolen after cyber-attack on American Addiction Centers Record

Trafficking

🚚 Brazil says workers at China's BYD site are victims of human trafficking Reuters 

🚚 Mexico Worries Trump Will Order Strikes Against Drug Cartels WSJ

🚚 Guatemala open to accepting Trump's Central American deportees Reuters

🚚 Backpacks full of $1.1M worth of cocaine found near border with Canada CBS

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