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0 pointsFooBarBizBazz5y ago0 comments

This seems dumb on the part of the bank. Unless terrorists are really, really stupid, classifying the first name "Isis" as "terrorist" is bound to have a 100% false positive rate.

0 comments

aaomidi5y ago

It's cause the banks keep getting sued by the US govt and the US govt keeps siding with the US govt that the banks violated sanctions.

So banks then do ridiculous things like checking your timezone and checking your name and the memo fields so they get to have a stronger defense in court.

mikeyouse5y ago

You're not wrong - but try to Venmo somebody funds for a "Cuban Sandwich" or an "Iranian restaurant" and see what happens though.

booleandilemma5y ago

I recently used paypal to send a dollar to a coworker with the description of “tardigrade”, after reading a story on HN about how they were blocking transactions containing that string.

Sure enough, the transaction was blocked, my account was disabled, and I had to send paypal an email saying that I wasn’t an arms dealer.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828

dilyevsky5y ago

Dunno why this is being downvoted - i once jokingly added a note mentioning “meth” paying someone for dinner (in reference to our conversation at said dinner) and google suspended my account temporarily and cancelled the transaction

creddit5y ago

I just did the Cuban Sandwich one without a problem. What should I be expecting?

srtjstjsj5y ago

USA had (has?) sanctions banning trading with Cuba.

1 more reply

macintux5y ago

I did that with PayPal a couple of years ago and the transaction was flagged for review.

1 more reply

na855y ago

Are those phrases some kind of slang for drugs or fraud or something? Or is it just because they contain the words "Cuba" and "Iran"?

detaro5y ago

Just because of the country names.

29athrowaway5y ago

Persian food is kind of a synonym

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

aaomidi5y ago

It's cause the banks keep getting sued by the US govt and the US govt keeps siding with the US govt that the banks violated sanctions.

So banks then do ridiculous things like checking your timezone and checking your name and the memo fields so they get to have a stronger defense in court.

mikeyouse5y ago

You're not wrong - but try to Venmo somebody funds for a "Cuban Sandwich" or an "Iranian restaurant" and see what happens though.

booleandilemma5y ago

I recently used paypal to send a dollar to a coworker with the description of “tardigrade”, after reading a story on HN about how they were blocking transactions containing that string.

Sure enough, the transaction was blocked, my account was disabled, and I had to send paypal an email saying that I wasn’t an arms dealer.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828

dilyevsky5y ago

creddit5y ago

I just did the Cuban Sandwich one without a problem. What should I be expecting?

srtjstjsj5y ago

USA had (has?) sanctions banning trading with Cuba.

1 more reply

macintux5y ago

I did that with PayPal a couple of years ago and the transaction was flagged for review.

1 more reply

na855y ago

Are those phrases some kind of slang for drugs or fraud or something? Or is it just because they contain the words "Cuba" and "Iran"?

detaro5y ago

Just because of the country names.

29athrowaway5y ago

Persian food is kind of a synonym

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse