“When our memories outweigh our dreams, it is then that we become old.” - Bill Clinton
13th November 2020 / Issue #395
giffgaff Happenings
by bluemoonbaz
Black Friday 2020 is just around the corner
Yes, like it or loathe it, it’s nearly here! So, as ever, giffgaff have some sneak peek early deals across both refurbished and new phones. E-mail is going to be the only way giffgaff send out these offers - so to make sure you’re getting them, make sure you’ve opted into marketing e-mails (here) before the end of the weekend. Then, keep an eye on your inbox on Monday 16th 😉.
Check Your Drawers - New Black Friday campaign
This year’s campaign is to get our members to ‘Check their Drawers’ and find those lost lonely or unwanted phones 📱. Either recycle it ♻️ or donate it or cash-in and make some £££. Head over here and read about this great idea and who giffgaff have partnered with this year.
Time to vote
It’s time to get excited. You can now choose which charities you’d like to receive donations from all the members who select charity as their Payback option, check your e-mail inbox for your personalised voting link. Voting closes 23:59 on 16th November 2020. Here are this year’s nominations:
- British Dyslexia Association - We are the voice of people with dyslexia. We fight every day to ensure that nobody gets left behind. We won’t stop fighting for a dyslexia-friendly society, where everyone can reach their full potential.
- Centrepoint - Centrepoint’s mission is to give homeless young people a future and ultimately to end youth homelessness. Centrepoint supports young people between the ages of 16-25 who are experiencing homelessness, providing a safe and secure home, health and wellbeing support, as well as a bespoke education, training and employment pathway, to ensure young people can move on positively into independent lives.
- Dogs Trust - Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity and cares for over 15,000 dogs across its network of 21 rehoming centres across the UK and Ireland. Dogs Trust is working towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.
- The Bus Shelter MK - The Bus Shelter MK offers a route off the streets to people experiencing homelessness with a temporary home and one to one support. Guests stay on average for three months while they are helped to regain their health, find work and move into safe, sustainable accommodation.
- Place2Be - Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity that provides vital support in primary and secondary schools for children, parents and teachers. A staggering 1 in 6 children now experience mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression – Place2Be believes that no child should have to face mental health problems alone.
Our weekly roundup from your fellow members’ recent discussions and or interesting posts
Say Hello!
by kathleen414
Please give our new friend and giffgaffer @dr27463 a big welcome 🧡. Also a big thank you to his aunt @sally2000. “Can’t wait to see for myself how great this community is”. Head over here and say hello.
Welcome back to giffgaff @dfrob93 who has returned after 2 years away from us, after his wife’s better signal swayed him, hooray 🤗. Welcome home to giffgaff 🏡. Give our friend a hello right here.
@leedi0t1403 is back after a long break. It’s great to have you back with us! Please give our fab friend a big hug and a welcome home here 🏡.
Happy giffgaffiversary!
by ijustcantdoit
It’s my giffgaffiversary!
@ekc says “🎉🎉🎉 7 Years🎉🎉🎉 Omg time flies!!! So glad I ordered that sim back then. It’s been seven years of countless data and minutes of talking with my family back home. giffgaff’s great prices made it possible and on top of that a fantastic community that is there to support you! Needless to say that giffgaff went above and beyond with help and solutions during the Covid madness. Thank you for everything and here’s to another 7 years. 🎉🍾🥂”
Six year anniversary
@kayden16 received an e-mail from giffgaff saying “Wow. Did you know you’ve been a giffgaff member for 6 years today? That’s enough time to do loads of other things. So we’re chuffed that you kept choosing us. In that time you could have: Driven between Land’s End and John o’Groats 3,504 times.”
Good giffgaff
@twist41 says “I’ve been with giffgaff now for 3 years and I think it’s great. Carry on with the good work. We all love u giffgaff.”
If it’s YOUR giffgaffiversary, please let the team know by sending a private message to @ijustcantdoit.
Photo Of The Week
by brulaw
This week’s featured photo is Pleased with the out come! by @tremayne1985. Some of the comments on the photo included:
- “Wow, and so you should be, that is really great.” (frenchielove)
- “Perfectly framed!” (bethany_j)
- “That’s brilliant, you have captured it beautifully.” (tinawilliams0410)
- “That is a stunning photo, perfectly captured. I would have it on my wall.” (alienlady)
- “Beautiful scenery the photo is spot on, I love it.” (pete131347)
- “Smashing idea and a great photo too… Thanks for sharing.” (shabbas)
- “Ah beautiful picture & I love the tunnel view.” (the_bookie)
It may be cooler and wetter, and the days may be shorter, but thanks to you talented snappers we’ve always got some brilliant photos to brighten up our days. Your images are what makes the Photography section a good place to check out… Thank you all!
On This Day In History
by jammydodge
1901 The Lifeboat Beauchamp and it’s crew were lost in the Caister Lifeboat Disaster, while trying to rescue a victim of the heavy seas. All victims are memorialised with a monument in Caister Cemetery.
Source: Wikipedia
1947 Hugh Dalton, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Clement Atlee, resigned after leaking a part of the budget speech he was about to give in an off the cuff remark to a reporter.
Source: Wikipedia
Tech Developments
by revilo10
FinCEN: A gaff deep dive - Part 4
Welcome to the final part of the gaff’s deep dive into the FinCEN files. After exploring the origins of the leaks and what they meant for international money movement, and then a related Ponzi scheme, we’re wrapping up this week by exploring where all the money has actually moved from the leaks. It is again important for me to stress that by no means is every single dollar in this list of transactions 100% criminal, dirty or illegal in any way. The transaction has simply been listed as potentially suspicious and reported to FinCEN and subsequently included in these leaks.
We’re going to specifically focus on the UK first of all, where trillions of dollars of suspicious money has been moved around the planet either originating in the UK or being moved to it. One of the biggest origin banks for these transactions in the UK processed trillions of dollars in potentially dirty money on its own throughout this period. Some of the largest places UK accounts sent money to during that period to included the United States as well as parts of Central America and the Caribbean. No surprise there given the tax haven status of many Caribbean island nations and the reputation they have for holding large amounts of potentially dirty money.
The UK is surprisingly one of the largest, if not the largest harbourer of money on the FinCEN list, even though the files somewhat focused on the U.S, the UK actually played host to more dirty money than the U.S in some sample periods. It’s important to note that the data in itself presented is not entirely representative of the entirety of potentially criminal transactions which have taken place over the last few years, however, it does highlight the strength and mass movement of money across the world of which most happens under our noses.
So to summarise, what are the key takeaways from the leaks? There is no individual action we can all take to prevent fraud, however, it is clear that big banks need to step up and improve their systems not only for detecting fraud but also for tackling it and actively closing the accounts of those suspected of wrongdoing.
Thanks for reading!
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