PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

Re:PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing ... by _Microft on Saturday September 12, 2020 @11:28AM (#24453187)

And the strings from this list have to be matched indiscriminately against everything? Names of account holders, text in the reference field of a transaction (if such a thing exists in the US), whatever?

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Re:PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing ... by Ancapistani on Saturday September 12, 2020 @01:42PM (#24454083)

I’ve had an order of “Aleppo pepper” blocked from a small online retailer because it contained the word “Aleppo”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_pepper

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Re:PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing ... by Nyra on Saturday September 12, 2020 @01:00PM (#24453784)

Yep. I bought a used copy of Yakuza 0 online once and foolishly included the name of the game in the notes of the transaction. PayPal blocked the transfer of funds for over a week.

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Re:PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing ... by imnotjames on Saturday September 12, 2020 @11:39AM (#24453258)

I haven't read the actual guidelines / rules / etc put out by OFAC in over a year but that was the gist of it from the legal team.

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Re:PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing ... by SethMurphy on Saturday September 12, 2020 @12:30PM (#24453591)

Yes, all text in a message scanned, matches made are for manual review. In the world of financial compliance false positives are in the majority. No company can afford to skip a true match for the sake of scalability based on current audit practices.

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Re:PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing ... by MattGaiser on Saturday September 12, 2020 @12:51PM (#24453717)

In finance, compliance is taken very seriously. Better to block 1000 transactions than miss 1.

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