5 ms·

That looks like nothing but thinly-disguised money laundering. Hack an Amazon account, buy some cash, repeat. Why else would someone buy $20 for $32?

Cthulhu_ 9y ago
Because $2 dollar bills are rare to find and get in bulk; iirc if you buy rolls of change at a bank (for change, e.g. if you need it for your shop) you also pay a bit more than the face value of the currency.
- AuthorizedCust 9y ago
  Neither are true. I get fresh straps of $2 bills all the time. They are still printed.
- deadmetheny 9y ago
  This is absolutely untrue, I get cash of all denominations for my business at the bank all the time, including $2 bills. They usually have to pop into the vault to get some since there's not a lot of call for them, but they're by no means impossible or cost extra to get.
- mod 9y ago
  I "buy" rolls of change at the bank constantly. I also turn in unrolled change, which they count for me. (I own machines that take quarters) I've never paid a penny extra for the rolls, and my bank does the coin-counting for free as well. I have never in my life heard of paying extra for rolled coins. In fact, there's a whole subreddit devoted to people who buy rolls of coins and then hunt through them looking for old (silver) coins. They turn the coins back in later, at a different bank/location. This would likely not be a viable hobby if there was any upcharge.
  - wink 9y ago
    In my local bank (Germany) I get up to 2 rolls of any denomination for free, per day. I can also cash in loose coins (to my account) at an automatic counting machine (but not many branches have them). For people who don't have an account at this bank, iirc there's some kind of fee for getting rolled coins, might be in the ballpark of 50ct per roll or something.
Cerium 9y ago
There is a very real novelty factor of an uncut sheet. I have one and didn't mind paying the premium. Also, I'm pretty sure the U.S. Government doesn't need help laundering money. They sell them at a premium direct
mygo 9y ago
Yep hacking an account and giving your real mailing address and card information complete with a paper trail is definitely how you launder.
- ballenf 9y ago
  Not to mention it's somewhat de-laundering: you start with money in a bank or credit on a card and end up with hard to spend cash. Hard to spend as in, you can't really pay your mortgage or buy a car with $2 bills.
  - vuln 9y ago
    Why not? My auto and hoke loan is through my credit union. I can walk in any branch and make a cash payment on any of my loans. I don't even have to verify I own the accounts.
    - pjc50 9y ago
      You will attract AML attention if this goes over the $10k threshold for any one transaction (or near it in some cases).
      - aidenn0 9y ago
        Who has a mortgage or car payment that is in excess of $10k per month?
        IncRnd 9y ago
        People with a need to launder money?
        HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
        San Franciscans :-)
        nerfhammer 9y ago
        (tangent) An old friend of mine claimed that he could get very low-ball offers accepted for used cars by showing up with his entire bid in hundred dollar bills in cash, he said that people were so mesmerized by the sight of literal stacks of currency that they would accept lower offers than they would for other "cash" offers that were otherwise some form of bank transfer.
baud147258 9y ago
I would say it's the other way around: you sell some ill-gotten cash, which is then sitting on a legal account.
RandallBrown 9y ago
Hacking an amazon count and buying cash isn't money laundering. You could just buy stuff on amazon and skip the cash middleman.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

Because $2 dollar bills are rare to find and get in bulk; iirc if you buy rolls of change at a bank (for change, e.g. if you need it for your shop) you also pay a bit more than the face value of the currency.

AuthorizedCust 9y ago
Neither are true. I get fresh straps of $2 bills all the time. They are still printed.
deadmetheny 9y ago
This is absolutely untrue, I get cash of all denominations for my business at the bank all the time, including $2 bills. They usually have to pop into the vault to get some since there's not a lot of call for them, but they're by no means impossible or cost extra to get.
mod 9y ago
I "buy" rolls of change at the bank constantly. I also turn in unrolled change, which they count for me. (I own machines that take quarters) I've never paid a penny extra for the rolls, and my bank does the coin-counting for free as well. I have never in my life heard of paying extra for rolled coins. In fact, there's a whole subreddit devoted to people who buy rolls of coins and then hunt through them looking for old (silver) coins. They turn the coins back in later, at a different bank/location. This would likely not be a viable hobby if there was any upcharge.
- wink 9y ago
  In my local bank (Germany) I get up to 2 rolls of any denomination for free, per day. I can also cash in loose coins (to my account) at an automatic counting machine (but not many branches have them). For people who don't have an account at this bank, iirc there's some kind of fee for getting rolled coins, might be in the ballpark of 50ct per roll or something.

Cerium 9y ago

There is a very real novelty factor of an uncut sheet. I have one and didn't mind paying the premium. Also, I'm pretty sure the U.S. Government doesn't need help laundering money. They sell them at a premium direct

mygo 9y ago

Yep hacking an account and giving your real mailing address and card information complete with a paper trail is definitely how you launder.

ballenf 9y ago
Not to mention it's somewhat de-laundering: you start with money in a bank or credit on a card and end up with hard to spend cash. Hard to spend as in, you can't really pay your mortgage or buy a car with $2 bills.
- vuln 9y ago
  Why not? My auto and hoke loan is through my credit union. I can walk in any branch and make a cash payment on any of my loans. I don't even have to verify I own the accounts.
  - pjc50 9y ago
    You will attract AML attention if this goes over the $10k threshold for any one transaction (or near it in some cases).
    - aidenn0 9y ago
      Who has a mortgage or car payment that is in excess of $10k per month?
      - IncRnd 9y ago
        People with a need to launder money?
      - HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
        San Franciscans :-)
      - nerfhammer 9y ago
        (tangent) An old friend of mine claimed that he could get very low-ball offers accepted for used cars by showing up with his entire bid in hundred dollar bills in cash, he said that people were so mesmerized by the sight of literal stacks of currency that they would accept lower offers than they would for other "cash" offers that were otherwise some form of bank transfer.

baud147258 9y ago

I would say it's the other way around: you sell some ill-gotten cash, which is then sitting on a legal account.

RandallBrown 9y ago

Hacking an amazon count and buying cash isn't money laundering. You could just buy stuff on amazon and skip the cash middleman.