Uncle Sam wants you... to explain this $50 cash deposit

arstechnica.com ^ | 4/27/2005 | Hannibal

[PreciousLiberty]

In 2006, it'll be a whole lot harder to cheat on your taxes, even accidentally. In fact, you'll also have to field calls from the government over odd deposits that you make, e.g. a deposit at an odd time of the month, or a cash deposit, or a deposit made from a foreign bank, etc. That's because, thanks to the PATRIOT act, banks are spending billions on highly sophisticated, government-mandated anti-money laundering (AML) software that will track every last transaction of every last customer in order to build up individual customer profiles and look for "suspicious" activity. And when they find some suspicious activity, they're going to want an explanation out of you, regardless of whether or not you fit any sort of terrorist profile.

[SedVictaCatoni]

Handed 5 to the teller and asked for a new five dollar bill.......She didn't even blink and gave me the five.

You got her fired.

[BlueNgold]

You are quoting a technical message board who is quoting WiredNews with an Indian bank representative as the primary quote source.

A quick look over the stories by this author include fluff pieces about Madrasses efforts to change their image by teaching computer courses. All of his articles focus on India and Pakistan - so one can expect that is his primary audience. That said: Were I a Paki national living in the US and had a 'fat' gift from a middle eastern source I would EXPECT to get flagged by the feds.

The headline is not supported by the article, and the source is dubious at best. Perhaps some folks may want to ease up on the knee-jerk anti government reaction to inflammatory stories... perhaps.

[DumpsterDiver]

...however under this scheme the government will still be investigating any "suspicious" transactions independently of any tax issues.

Maybe they'll start tracking all of the remittances sent to foreign countries by people of dubious immigration status. After all, some of those countries are known for their pharmaceutical distribution businesses.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

How is that determined?

Say you get paid twice a month and go to the bank once a month to deposit it. Then you decide to go twice a month. You're flagged.

This had an earlier incarnation in the Know You Customer legislation, orginally set up to find launderers and drug dealers. An outcry over privacy violations killed the idea. But that was before 9-11.

Looks like they now want to have a profile on everyone's habits.

[MeanWestTexan]

Sure, you'll have some abuses.

But most shopping is done in stores, and would still be.

[mlc9852]

Even before the Patriot Act, banks were required to report any transactions of $10,000 or more - deposit or withdrawal.

[snowsislander]

This is an interesting web page from ChoicePoint:

To receive a fully-functional 30-day free trial of Bridger Insight, please complete the form and click the submit button. Once your request has been approved, you will receive an email with full download and installation instructions.

What is Bridger Insight?

Used by more than 4,000 organizations across various industries, Bridger Insight is the leading compliance software solution for advanced watch list screening, identity verification and much more. Bridger's easy-to-use interface will save you time and reduce the headaches associated with OFAC and USA PATRIOT Act compliance. This solution is equipped with advanced scoring, security features, reporting, workflow/case management tools and much more.

With Bridger Insight you can:

• Better "know your customers" by performing unlimited watch list screening, which includes the OFAC SDN list along with 20 other government and proprietary lists. With its sophisticated and proprietary fuzzy logic, Bridger Insight yields false positive rates three times lower than competitive products.
• Verify the identity of customers with sophisticated fuzzy logic matching for more accurate results.

Our solutions enable you to respond to anti-money laundering regulations, help prevent identity theft and fraud, assist you to better "know your customer" and help mitigate reputational, financial and legal risks.

Bridger Insight is Easy to Use

• Save time by not having to install any software. You can access Bridger Insight Online from any computer with an Internet connection.
• Receive complementary online audio/visual product overviews/training for you and your employees.
• Keep a record of and perform on-demand searches of all customer screening transactions with Bridger's unique archival and printable reporting module.
• Easily and quickly identify high risk customers with our color-coded risk meter and related risk score.
• Get automatic, current watch list and identity verification data updates.
• Configure system settings and limit user access rights.
• Fine tune your company's compliance program with ChoicePoint's Compliance Education Series or receive copies of the widely-used OFAC and USA PATRIOT Act Policy and Procedure Guides.

[Misty Memory]

...software that will track every last transaction of every last customer in order to build up individual customer profiles and look for "suspicious" activity.

The only suspicious activity on my account are the two checks I wrote April 15^th...one to the US treasury and the other to my state dept of revenue.

[toldyou]

Regarding Nigerian scam artists.....

Visit this site and see what this business woman has done to these con-artists. Her correspondence with them is hilarious. Once you access the site, scroll down, and her letters are listed under "Visit Our Forum."

http://www.bustedupcowgirl.com/scampage.html

[Holicheese]

I agree. There is no way they have the capacity to investigate $50 going into an account.
For anyone who wants the free Gap jeans, just wait and the chain email will get to you soon.

[snowsislander]

This is done secretly, without the consent or knowledge of bank customers, any time a financial institution decides that a transaction is "suspicious."

In fact, I believe that it is illegal for the bank to inform the customer that a SAR has been filed.

[tfecw]

Yup, bought my first car with cash after watching my parents buy their first 2 cars with cash. They later figured out what "Air miles" are and now pretty much pay everything with that. Then pay the CC bill off in cash. No problems from Uncle Sam. p>

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Someone on FR was suggesting that any deposit over $5000 would be considered "suspicious" by the government and the person making the deposit would be getting a "phone call" from the Feds. As of last year I have made at least 3 of these so-called suspicious withdrawals and deposits from different accounts in different bank accounts and I have yet to receive one call.

All transactions over $10,000 get reported to FINCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). All straight cash transactions over $3000 also get reported. The bank fills out a report and sends it on to the government. FINCEN then determines whether the transaction is suspicious. Most of the time, it's not. They catch a few money launderers here and there, but FINCEN nets very few criminals considering the amount of transactions they check out. A big waste of money, if you ask me.

[MineralMan]

"They may have knowledge of the transaction, but assuming you didn't purchase a certain kind of car, they may have figured it wasn't worth investigating. "

What!?! You mean the feds aren't interested in my 1995 Dodge Shadow? I'm shocked and alarmed. I mean, I gave $1000 for it. They ought to be pounding on my door right now...oh wait...someone just drove up in a gray sedan......

[Hatteras]

Why would a random $50 deposit send up any red flags?

[Paul_Denton]

Why would a random $50 deposit send up any red flags?

Good question.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Still, I doubt that they're interested even in that deposit, since it's not something that happens a lot in my account.

On the other hand, it may make them more interested. You've done something out of your profile.

[warsaw44]

Thats me alright. I'm self employed and have no idea how much I'll be depositing or when. At the end of the year I have a mountain of deposit slips. I would hope that the bank system would recognize the erratic nature of my deposit
history and clearly see there is no pattern.

[coloradan]

The Feds can't even find time to patrol our borders. I doubt they'll be able to ccheck on a couple of billions of transactions.

How naive. There isn't any money in stopping illegals. There's lots of money to be had snooping around billions of transactions. Forfeiture, anyone?

[1Old Pro]

And here I thought the PATRIOT Act was only to be used to pursue terrorists...not monitor every American's financial dealings. Is this what we want our nation to become?

I totally agree. That's why I think domiciling a bank outside the U.S. would be a real winner as people get fed up with computer generated "letters" coming from your bank saying that they have "noticed" something peculiar like you actually using the bank for deposits and withdrawals.