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Lefty · 03-03-06, 13:00

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

By BOB KERR
The Providence Journal
28-FEB-06

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail."

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that "everything changed after 9/11" thing.

But not Walter.

"We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should be way away from us in that regard."

He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense.

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed.

So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called.

"When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said.

They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking.

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

"The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy."

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit card payment can pose a security threat.

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid, middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said.

Interesting, an aspect of supposed personal (is anything any more?) life that I found interesting. Also a tip about unexplained income and what not to do with it. I'd comment further but I'm home for lunch.

TVCasualty · 03-03-06, 13:52

I just read that yesterday. I thought it was weird. I have a high balance on my card, as did a friend of mine. My friend called his bank and asked how much they would take as a settlement to declare the balance zero all at once. His balance was 1200, and the CC company said they'd take 832.50 (the exact amount my friend said he had on him at the time). This is something anyone with a high balance can do so long as they have a good payment history (no late payments, no overlimit, etc). I believe the card co. closes your account after you do this.

I intend to do this as well (my balance is actually high, much more than my friends'), saving myself the interest I've already paid by discounting the balance. Banks do this because 1) money now is worth more than the promise of money later and 2) the new laws/policies regarding minimum balances are forcing many more cardholders into default so they take the money where they can. #2 is my own speculation based on news I read.

Maybe this is a backhanded way to discourage people to try settling their balances and keep paying interest?

A typical SNAFU situation where the wrong people get caught up in a reporting requirement for any fund transfers over 5K?

The biggest threat to the security of the US is...security.

This country is going to simply bog down in an inefficient tsunami of red tape, with each American ultimately being assigned an agent from Homeland Security to accompany them constantly, making sure they don't pay other people's parking meters, their own card balances, or anything else that is banned, which is everything that's not compulsory. Other countries won't want to deal with our security bureaucracy and will go elsewhere to trade, and as business fizzles out we still won't be secure! Only part of this rant is a joke...

igetit · 03-06-06, 01:01

How much more infringement will it take?

I hope to not be in America the day that we all have our own Homeland Security agent. It seems funny that a county can continue moving in this direction and nothing stop it short of...... general public dissaproval.

Oh wait, I guess America needs more than the opinion of its own people on this issue.

Jacsprat · 03-06-06, 07:10

" Also a tip about unexplained income and what not to do with it. I'd comment further but I'm home for lunch."

Please explane more on this topic and links to where

you got this info would help.

mindovermycelia · 03-06-06, 09:18

that stinks

maybe we got lucky, but my wife recently paid a large amount of money towards a credit card when we sold our trailer since we had put the balance of our mortagage on the cards because it was lower interest - I know it was around $6 g on one of them, and we had no problems.

dead_diver · 03-06-06, 12:36

[quote][A typical SNAFU situation where the wrong people get caught up in a reporting requirement for any fund transfers over 5K?
/QUOTE] I think it is now down from $5000 to $2500. Recently I was informed by my bank that it is illegal to keep US legal tender (if it says United States of America on it, has a date and a monetary amount on it, it's legal tender, this includes gold, platinum and silver bullion coins) in a safety deposit box. I have been keeping my coin collection in safety deposit boxes for years. Where the fuck else am I supposed to keep it? Now I find if the gov found out about it they could take it and charge me with trying to conceal money?!

Lefty · 03-06-06, 16:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacsprat

" Also a tip about unexplained income and what not to do with it. I'd comment further but I'm home for lunch."
Please explane more on this topic and links to where
you got this info would help.

Well, it would seem personal finances are being closely scrutinized to the point of spending trends being tracked. If one were to come into a significant amount of cash they wouldn't want to have to account for, such as non-state sponsored gambling winnings, it may not be wise to make several mortgage payments.
Author & publication are at top of article.

LethalTr1p · 03-06-06, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by igetit

How much more infringement will it take?

I hope to not be in America the day that we all have our own Homeland Security agent.

i hope to be out long before then. every day this place pisses me off more and more. soon as the money is there, good bye usa.

TVCasualty · 03-07-06, 15:23

Or why don't we stand up, speak out, and take our country back? I mean, all my stuff is here, I hate moving, and this place still seems worth fighting for. Plus it's much easier to hide within your own culture and foreign countries aren't exactly beacons of freedom either. Try to import the 'wrong' books into Canada for example...

The US is the healthiest patient in the cancer ward, so to speak. After all, we can have this conversation openly or anonymously (our choice), for now, and not get killed by death squads.

I say "for now" because of a story I found today and posted as a new thread about a bill in New Jersey that would strip anonymity from web forums. Diseases like this bill tend to spread.
I posted it here:
http://forums.mycotopia.net/showthread.php?t=8571 (Jersey Bill to strip forum anonymity?)

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03-03-06, 13:00	#1 (permalink)
Lefty Resident Evil Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 2,012	HomeCreditLandCardSecurity Pay too much and you could raise the alarm By BOB KERR The Providence Journal 28-FEB-06 PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while. So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local. And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail." He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man. What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that "everything changed after 9/11" thing. But not Walter. "We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should be way away from us in that regard." He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense. They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522. And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable. And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs. They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast. After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed. So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called. "When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said. They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking. They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted. Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act. "The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy." Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit card payment can pose a security threat. But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid, middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost. "If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said. Interesting, an aspect of supposed personal (is anything any more?) life that I found interesting. Also a tip about unexplained income and what not to do with it. I'd comment further but I'm home for lunch. __________________ Blood crystalized to sand And now I hope you'll understand

03-06-06, 09:18	#5 (permalink)
mindovermycelia Mycotopiate Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 493	that stinks maybe we got lucky, but my wife recently paid a large amount of money towards a credit card when we sold our trailer since we had put the balance of our mortagage on the cards because it was lower interest - I know it was around $6 g on one of them, and we had no problems. __________________ do unto others as you would have them do unto you

03-06-06, 12:36	#6 (permalink)
dead_diver Mycotopiate Join Date: Mar 1972 Posts: 771	[quote][A typical SNAFU situation where the wrong people get caught up in a reporting requirement for any fund transfers over 5K? /QUOTE] I think it is now down from $5000 to $2500. Recently I was informed by my bank that it is illegal to keep US legal tender (if it says United States of America on it, has a date and a monetary amount on it, it's legal tender, this includes gold, platinum and silver bullion coins) in a safety deposit box. I have been keeping my coin collection in safety deposit boxes for years. Where the fuck else am I supposed to keep it? Now I find if the gov found out about it they could take it and charge me with trying to conceal money?! __________________ It would be thought a hard government, that should tax its people one-tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service. - Benjamin Franklin

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03-03-06, 13:52	#2 (permalink)
TVCasualty Embrace Your Damage Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,913	I just read that yesterday. I thought it was weird. I have a high balance on my card, as did a friend of mine. My friend called his bank and asked how much they would take as a settlement to declare the balance zero all at once. His balance was 1200, and the CC company said they'd take 832.50 (the exact amount my friend said he had on him at the time). This is something anyone with a high balance can do so long as they have a good payment history (no late payments, no overlimit, etc). I believe the card co. closes your account after you do this. I intend to do this as well (my balance is actually high, much more than my friends'), saving myself the interest I've already paid by discounting the balance. Banks do this because 1) money now is worth more than the promise of money later and 2) the new laws/policies regarding minimum balances are forcing many more cardholders into default so they take the money where they can. #2 is my own speculation based on news I read. Maybe this is a backhanded way to discourage people to try settling their balances and keep paying interest? A typical SNAFU situation where the wrong people get caught up in a reporting requirement for any fund transfers over 5K? The biggest threat to the security of the US is...security. This country is going to simply bog down in an inefficient tsunami of red tape, with each American ultimately being assigned an agent from Homeland Security to accompany them constantly, making sure they don't pay other people's parking meters, their own card balances, or anything else that is banned, which is everything that's not compulsory. Other countries won't want to deal with our security bureaucracy and will go elsewhere to trade, and as business fizzles out we still won't be secure! Only part of this rant is a joke...

03-06-06, 01:01	#3 (permalink)
igetit Mycophage Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 151	How much more infringement will it take? I hope to not be in America the day that we all have our own Homeland Security agent. It seems funny that a county can continue moving in this direction and nothing stop it short of...... general public dissaproval. Oh wait, I guess America needs more than the opinion of its own people on this issue.

03-06-06, 07:10	#4 (permalink)
Jacsprat Mycophage Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 103	" Also a tip about unexplained income and what not to do with it. I'd comment further but I'm home for lunch." Please explane more on this topic and links to where you got this info would help.

03-07-06, 15:23	#9 (permalink)
TVCasualty Embrace Your Damage Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,913	Or why don't we stand up, speak out, and take our country back? I mean, all my stuff is here, I hate moving, and this place still seems worth fighting for. Plus it's much easier to hide within your own culture and foreign countries aren't exactly beacons of freedom either. Try to import the 'wrong' books into Canada for example... The US is the healthiest patient in the cancer ward, so to speak. After all, we can have this conversation openly or anonymously (our choice), for now, and not get killed by death squads. I say "for now" because of a story I found today and posted as a new thread about a bill in New Jersey that would strip anonymity from web forums. Diseases like this bill tend to spread. I posted it here: http://forums.mycotopia.net/showthread.php?t=8571 (Jersey Bill to strip forum anonymity?)