Money laundering is a problem with these cards to be honest, it is the fastest and easiest way for a drug dealer to turn undeclared cash into electronic cash without a paper trail.
Talking with a friend what they REALLY want to go after is the prepaid cell phone minute cards and off the shelf phones that are unregistered. (burn phones) Bought with a prepaid credit card they are completely untraceable unless they can get video of the transaction, and even then it is usually a kid sent to buy them. You can get a cheap one now for about $5, plus a minute card that costs $.10/ minute, $.05/ text. For this chump change they have virtually unlimited use, and Big Brother doesn’t like that much these days.
And prepaid service (which I’ve had for a few years now) misses out on the (depending in your state) additional 14-22% monthly taxes and fees that postpaid service has. I’m sure, sooner than later, the govt. is going to tap into the prepaid market for several reasons, revenues being reason #1.
I have AT&T prepaid service. I pay ~$53.30/month for service for both my iPhone and iPad. My friend who has postpaid AT&T service for the same devices pays over $90/month.
That adds up over time. What I save on a monthly/yearly basis more than pays for me to buy my own devices and resell them and make money, which again, I’ve been doing for years.
Cell phone service in the USA is one of the biggest ripoffs going.