I wrote “ISIS Beer Funds” in a Venmo memo and the feds detained my $42

Re:I wrote “ISIS Beer Funds” in a Venmo memo and the feds de... by joesmo on Monday April 18, 2016 @04:50PM (#11523054)

I can't imagine the incredible stupidity that led to this regulation. As if terrorists are actually going to use the acronym ISIS. They don't even use that acronym when talking about themselves. In fact, I don't think anyone outside the US uses that acronym. Even if they did, I doubt they would be that stupid to use it in an actual money transfer. They are not as stupid as the people making these regulations.

But I disagree with the author. Sounds like the moral of the story is to not send money online whenever possible and when not possible, to always use a benign description, even if it's a lie.

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Re:I wrote “ISIS Beer Funds” in a Venmo memo and the feds de... by HillRat on Monday April 18, 2016 @05:53PM (#11523417)

Well, OFAC seeks to regulate transactions with proscribed groups and individuals. Normal banking covers this in part with "know your customer" (KYC) rules and processes, but I guess Venmo decided it needs to cast a wider net. In this case, I wouldn't blame OFAC; they just got a suspicious activity report and now have to act on it.

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