4 ms·

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% f

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.

mikeyouse 6y ago
You're not wrong - but try to Venmo somebody funds for a "Cuban Sandwich" or an "Iranian restaurant" and see what happens though.
- creddit 6y ago
  I just did the Cuban Sandwich one without a problem. What should I be expecting?
  - macintux 6y ago
    I did that with PayPal a couple of years ago and the transaction was flagged for review.
    - leereeves 6y ago
      Not long ago there was a similar discussion here because > PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade” https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828 And one of the top comments said: > PayPal gets a list of banned strings from the Office of Foreign Asset controls. If any match those strings it's flagged for a review.
  - srtjstjsj 6y ago
    USA had (has?) sanctions banning trading with Cuba.
    - creddit 6y ago
      I know. I'm just not sure why the OP is so confident that me putting "Cuban Sandwich" in the memo is going to get me flagged. Still good so far.
- dilyevsky 6y 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
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  Persian food is kind of a synonym
- na85 6y 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"?
  - detaro 6y ago
    Just because of the country names.
- booleandilemma 6y 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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828
aaomidi 6y 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.

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.

mikeyouse 6y ago

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

creddit 6y ago
I just did the Cuban Sandwich one without a problem. What should I be expecting?
- macintux 6y ago
  I did that with PayPal a couple of years ago and the transaction was flagged for review.
  - leereeves 6y ago
    Not long ago there was a similar discussion here because > PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade” https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828 And one of the top comments said: > PayPal gets a list of banned strings from the Office of Foreign Asset controls. If any match those strings it's flagged for a review.
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  USA had (has?) sanctions banning trading with Cuba.
  - creddit 6y ago
    I know. I'm just not sure why the OP is so confident that me putting "Cuban Sandwich" in the memo is going to get me flagged. Still good so far.
dilyevsky 6y 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
29athrowaway 6y ago
Persian food is kind of a synonym
na85 6y 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"?
- detaro 6y ago
  Just because of the country names.
booleandilemma 6y 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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24450828

aaomidi 6y 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.