Articles — ACCO

Big Data, Natural Language Processing, and Deep Learning to Detect and Characterize Illicit COVID-19 Product Sales: Infoveillance Study on Twitter and Instagram

ACCO expert Tim K Mackey has developed natural language processing and machine learning to identify COVID19 scams on Twitter and Instagram. Organizing this data, he has also created a customized dashboard to enable public health intelligence and provide reports to health authorities. Read the report.

Whistleblowers say Facebook has not warned investors about illegal activity, in new SEC complaint

The complaint, which was obtained by The Washington Post, includes dozens of pages of screenshots of opioids and other drugs for sale on Facebook and its photo-sharing site Instagram. Read the article.

This machine-learning upstart trained software to snare online drug dealers. Now it's going after fake coronavirus test equipment peddlers

Machine-learning software to snare scammers hawking fake COVID-19 test kits on social media is being built by a tiny startup funded by ACCO expert Dr Tim K Mackey. Read the article.

Coronavirus scammers are flooding social media with fake cures and tests

For years, Tim K Mackey has been researching the sale of opioids and illicit drugs online, tracking how dealers have used social media to push controlled substances. But over the past few weeks, he has found himself trying to track the black market for fake Covid-19 tests and treatments. Read the article.

Smugglers Are Using Coronavirus Lockdowns To Loot Artifacts

A group that tracks looted artifacts online says that thieves in the Middle East and North Africa are taking advantage of coronavirus lockdowns to pillage archeological sites and sell their finds on online black markets. Read the article.

Online antiquities smugglers are taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis

The online trade of illicit antiquities seems to be on the rise during the coronavirus crisis. The ATHAR Project, which investigates and documents the digital underworld of trafficking in looted artefacts, has found an uptick in posts on Facebook groups involved in buying and selling looted objects from the Middle East and North Africa. Read the article.