4 ms·

I would hope that the Fed is investigating (along with FBI/SS/etc), but there is a whole lot of shady shit happening through money orders and gift cards these d

I would hope that the Fed is investigating (along with FBI/SS/etc), but there is a whole lot of shady shit happening through money orders and gift cards these days...

kccqzy 6y ago
If you are referring to people gaming the credit card points/rewards system using gift cards and money orders, I don't think there's anything shady about that. If you actually think people are doing that for money laundering, now that probably deserves an investigation but I doubt money launderers are dumb enough to use money orders.
- Spooky23 6y ago
  Postal money orders are probably pretty low fraud targets given their relationship to the federal government and pretty harsh penalties, Gift cards are a whole other universe. There are many many grifts, from scammers looking to rip off people, to moving cash, avoiding payroll taxes, or other frauds. There’s a pretty active market online for gift cards from places like Home Depot or Walmart.
  - TMWNN 6y ago
    Is that why I've been able to sell Best Buy and Amazon gift cards on eBay for about face value?
  - gonesilent 6y ago
    People are paying employees in gift cards to avoid payroll taxes.....reminds me of the Nevada guy who was paying employees in face value of gold coins.
morpheuskafka 6y ago
Money orders through the post office are the subject to the same $10,000/day Currency Transaction Report filing requirement under BSA as commercial banks. Additionally, the size of each order is limited to $1,000.
- gonesilent 6y ago
  So you go to another post office. Nothing ties you to an account.
  - morpheuskafka 6y ago
    Sure, but there's a practical limit. If you've got a sack of hundreds to launder, you will be visiting a lot of post offices, and if you do it more than one you are gonna raise some suspicions. USPS offices have tons of cameras and their own law enforcement agency.

4 ms·

I would hope that the Fed is investigating (along with FBI/SS/etc), but there is a whole lot of shady shit happening through money orders and gift cards these d

by supernova87a 6y ago

I would hope that the Fed is investigating (along with FBI/SS/etc), but there is a whole lot of shady shit happening through money orders and gift cards these days...

kccqzy 6y ago
If you are referring to people gaming the credit card points/rewards system using gift cards and money orders, I don't think there's anything shady about that. If you actually think people are doing that for money laundering, now that probably deserves an investigation but I doubt money launderers are dumb enough to use money orders.
- Spooky23 6y ago
  Postal money orders are probably pretty low fraud targets given their relationship to the federal government and pretty harsh penalties, Gift cards are a whole other universe. There are many many grifts, from scammers looking to rip off people, to moving cash, avoiding payroll taxes, or other frauds. There’s a pretty active market online for gift cards from places like Home Depot or Walmart.
  - TMWNN 6y ago
    Is that why I've been able to sell Best Buy and Amazon gift cards on eBay for about face value?
  - gonesilent 6y ago
    People are paying employees in gift cards to avoid payroll taxes.....reminds me of the Nevada guy who was paying employees in face value of gold coins.
morpheuskafka 6y ago
Money orders through the post office are the subject to the same $10,000/day Currency Transaction Report filing requirement under BSA as commercial banks. Additionally, the size of each order is limited to $1,000.
- gonesilent 6y ago
  So you go to another post office. Nothing ties you to an account.
  - morpheuskafka 6y ago
    Sure, but there's a practical limit. If you've got a sack of hundreds to launder, you will be visiting a lot of post offices, and if you do it more than one you are gonna raise some suspicions. USPS offices have tons of cameras and their own law enforcement agency.