Crypto Scams, Slowing Job Growth, Dr. Oz Wins Republican Primary

Your Daily Debrief

June 4th, 2022

Good morning, and happy Saturday! It’s National Bubbly Day, and before you go popping champagne, here’s what we have for you:

Today’s Highlights

Cryptocurrency scams have cost people more than $1 billion since 2021
Jobs in the U.S. grow at their slowest pace since April of last year
Dr. Oz wins the Pennsylvania Republican Primary race

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Cryptocurrency scams have cost people more than $1 billion since 2021

According to a report released by the Federal Trade Commission on Friday, crypto-related scams have cost more than 46,000 individuals over $1 billion collectively since the start of 2021.

Median individual losses during that time frame were $2,600, per the FTC, which noted that the top cryptocurrencies people said they used to pay scammers were bitcoin (70%), tether (10%), and ether (9%). The report also showed that $575 million of crypto fraud losses reported to the FTC in 2021 were investment-related, making fake investment opportunities the most common type of scam.

In its report, the FTC wrote: “There’s no bank or other centralized authority to flag suspicious transactions and attempt to stop fraud before it happens. Crypto transfers can’t be reversed – once the money’s gone, there’s no getting it back.”

Almost half of the individuals who reported being scammed out of crypto investments since 2021 said it began with a message they received on social media. The top platforms that the scam victims received such messages on were Instagram (32%), Facebook (26%), WhatsApp (9%), and Telegram (7%).

Jobs in the U.S. grow at their slowest pace since April of last year

The Department of Labor reported on Friday that U.S. employers added 390,000 jobs last month, down from an increase of 436,000 in April and below the average monthly pace of job growth seen in 2021.

May’s job gains reported by the Department of Labor represented the slowest pace of growth since April of last year, which marked the beginning of a 12-month period when demand for jobs exceeded the available supply of workers. In that time, employers filled over 500,000 jobs on average per month amidst labor shortages.

Per the Labor Department’s report, the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%. May also saw hourly earnings rise by 0.3% from April, slightly lower than the estimate of 0.4%. The report also showed year-over-year hourly wage growth in May of 5.2%, which marked a decrease from the 5.5% growth rate in April.

“Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality,” the Labor Department wrote in the report, as well as “in professional and business services, and in transportation and warehousing.” Retail jobs, on the other hand, declined.

Dr. Oz wins the Pennsylvania Republican Primary race

Television personality and retired heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz won Pennsylvania’s Republican Primary race after former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick conceded during a state-conducted recount of the May 17th election.

Oz led McCormick by 972 votes, according to the Associated Press, and final results of the recount were expected early next week. When McCormick addressed his supporters on Friday evening, he stated he was conceding the race, saying, “Today I called Mehmet Oz to congratulate him on his victory, and I told him what I always told you: that I will do my part to try to unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his candidacy, behind his nomination for the Senate.”

In a tweet, Dr. Oz wrote, "I received a gracious phone call from David McCormick and am tremendously grateful for his pledge of support in the fall election. We share the goal of a brighter future for Pennsylvania & America."

Former President Donald Trump had previously endorsed Dr. Oz, who in November will run for the Senate seat against Democrat John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor. The seat is being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Patrick Toomey, which creates the first open Senate seat for Pennsylvania in twelve years.

Around the Globe

Crew members of a Carnival Cruise Line ship rescued 16 individuals floating and “in distress” off the coast of Cuba
Starbucks reopened 600 of its 940 stores in Shanghai as the city’s government lifted Covid lockdown measures
Head of an evangelical church based in Mexico pleads guilty to felony counts of sexually abusing 3 children

On the Homefront

Alameda county in California reinstated a new indoor mask mandate as coronavirus cases climb in the area
CDC confirms three Monkeypox cases in individuals with no links to recent travel, and suggests the virus may be spreading person-to-person in the United States
Upcoming book "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America" reports that former VP Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff warned Secret Service that former President Donald Trump would publicly attack Pence one day before the January 6th storming of the Capitol

Glitz and Games

Johnny Depp announces a new album with guitarist Jeff Beck to be released in July
Philadelphia Phillies fire manager Joe Girardi and name bench coach Rob Thomson as interim manager
Mariah Carey was sued for at least $20 million in damages by country singer Andy Stone, who claims she lifted the title of her 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas is You” from his song of the same name (recorded in 1989)

Money Moves

Major indexes in the stock market slid to cement weekly losses by closing bell on Friday (Dow -1.05%, Nasdaq -2.47%, S&P 500 -1.63%)
Elon Musk said he has a “super bad feeling” regarding the economy and told employees in an email to cut 10% of salaried staff at Tesla
Amazon announced that CEO of Worldwide Consumer Dave Clark will resign on July 1st after 23 years at the company

Tip & Tricks

Binge Watch: Check out season 3 of Amazon’s superhero dystopian show The Boys to see what Butcher and the gang are up to
Bump This: Post Malone is back with his fourth album Twelve Carat Toothache; stream the new release on Spotify
Say What: Tom Brady recalls Nate Clements giving him the biggest hit he ever took during his 22-year career
Nerd Out: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will sequentially align and be visible at dawn throughout this month; the last five-planet alignment occurred in 2004
Hot Goss: President Biden wished Elon Musk “lots of luck on his trip to the moon” when asked about the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s recent comments on the economy
Life Hack: If you want your strawberries to last longer, washing them with diluted vinegar extends their life for up to weeks

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Looking Back…

On June 4th, 1984, American musician Bruce Springsteen released the album ‘Born in the U.S.A.,’ which became one of his career-defining works with hits like “Dancing in the Dark” and “I’m on Fire.”⁠