Chase Freezes Guy's Bank Account For Paying His Dogwalker For Walking Dash The Dog
from the frozen-isis dept
It wasn't so long ago that we were discussing the problems with the United States Treasury Department's list of scary names and how it was being used to prevent completely innocent folks from using online services. The ultimate point of that post was that casting broad nets in which to turn suspicious eyes without applying any kind of checks or common sense was a recipe for calling a whole lot of people terrorists that aren't actually terrorists.
Enter Chase Bank, which reported a man to the authorities and froze his bank account because he paid someone to walk his dog, named Dash.
Bruce Francis transferred some money to his dog walker to pay for services to his pit bull, and wrote the dog's name, "Dash," in the notes field. The processors at Chase Bank thought that Dash might be a sneaky way of spelling Daesh (which is the mocking, insulting nickname used by critics to refer to "ISIS"), decided that this was possible terrorist money-laundering, and stopped the payment, froze his account, and notified the Treasury Department that he was a suspected terrorist.It's hard to know exactly where to begin, but let's dig in, shall we? We can start with the fact that Daesh is a name for ISIS, chiefly used by those opposed to it. It's an acronym of sorts, but it came into being because it sounds like a couple of similar Arabic words that carry heavy negative connotations. In fact, I've heard researchers and opponents of ISIS insist that we should all call them Daesh specifically because it pisses them off so much. In other words, it's fairly unlikely that an ISIS member or supporter is going to call the group Daesh.
And it's less likely that they're going to misspell their terrorist benefactors' group name. It would be like a neo-Nazi funding a group and writing "Not-zees" on the memo line on the check. Sure neo-Nazis are dumb, but if you care enough about the group to fund it, you probably know how to spell the group's name, right? Dash being a fairly common word only pounds home the question of why didn't someone just pick up a phone and call Mr. Francis for an explanation.
Because, really, why would someone funding a terrorist group note that on a paper check? That's the stupidest part of all this. The folks over at Chase apparently thought a guy named Bruce Francis was funding ISIS, calling it Daesh but misspelling the word, and was noting that in the memo on the check. That's epic levels of dumb. Which is why I had assumed Francis would be royally pissed off about this. But, nope, we Americans have been conditioned at this point, which is how you get this:
Despite the inconvenient mix-up, Francis said he had no hard feelings.Maybe it's time we just pack this whole America thing up and try again with something new.
"I think anything we can do to stop the terrorists and the funding of terrorists, let's do it," he told KTVU. "And if it means an inconvenience to me and my dogwalker, then that's a price I'm totally willing to pay."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: automation, dash, terrorism
Companies: chase
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Warning to Downton fans
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
So...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Better keep him under surveillance
Unfortunately, this sounds exactly what a guilty terrorist scumbag would say!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Why does corporate Amerika have to spy on the peasants?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Try something new?
I thought that was the problem.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I don't know what's dumber, the bank freezing the account or the guy thinking this "inconvenience" is the least bit acceptable.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Stupid and bizarre
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Soap
I guess I am in a lot of trouble now.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The many bounced-check fees, and the resulting late-payment fees, though, are entirely a different matter.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: So...
Shazam!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Out for shopping today passed sign: ISS
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chase are all kinds of dumb
Admittedly, how dumb their systems are pales in comparison to freezing accounts for mentioning a dog.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Out for shopping today passed sign: ISS
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It's strange, that guy doesn't mind having his bank account frozen to stop terrorism, even if he isn't a terrorist and yet, even if he, because of this stupid incident, might end on some "non-fly" list or whatever sikrit list the government has for "terrorists".
Now, let's see... tell this guy that cities are going to ban the use of cars, or that speed limits are going to be reduced by 20 kph or a measure like that, and I bet that he'd be fuming, claiming his right to kill himself on a car (and others too).
When, statistically, car accidents have way worse death rates than terrorism (50 to 1 on average?), with lots more injured and money in damages.
And yet, people agree to have their ass raped because of terrorism, when actually, that rape will do nothing to save them from it.
But come to them with measures to reduce their risk of car accidents, and with real measures that work, and they will go up in flames...
These romans are crazy...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Some idiot suspected something and did something, we see this all the time as the 'power' to report suspected terror things is spread out to people who shouldn't have this power.
The fact he is happy to have been screwed over because it was 'doing something' to stop terrorism. We have massive banks who have been caught laundering money & not asking the right questions but a check for dog walking fees which is most likely a small amount well thats got to be terrorist funding.
They are 'deputizing' more and more people to fight the war on terror, despite the fact we are more likely to die at the hands of a cop than in a terrorist attack. This is a prime example of going through the motions to make people feel better without actually doing anything useful.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Why does corporate Amerika have to spy on the peasants?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Better keep him under surveillance
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Security agency special
Bullshit. The word "Dash" was provided to Chase on a government list, and Chase was told to report any matches.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Out for shopping today passed sign: ISS
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Chase are all kinds of dumb
They will accuse you of "hacking" and you'll have a costly legal battle on your hands.
This world is stupid and I wanna get off.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That's nothing.
But yeah, woke up one day about a month after opening an account, and my ATM, savings, checking etc. didn't work. At least I had enough gas in the car to go to work. They tried to give me the line: "You'll get a check in 30 days". They adjusted their position when I threatened to get lawyers involved.
It was a Colorado bank. I wish I remembered their name so I could name em' and shame em.
Didn't you know? Liquidity is a crime, but your digital accounts may just disappear at any time for no reason. And if you have a problem with that you can wait for a court date, some time next year.
It sounds like paranoia until it happens to you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Chase are all kinds of dumb
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"it depends what the meaning of IS,IS"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
After all what is one life compared to making people safe everywhere because "terrorism"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Why does corporate Amerika have to spy on the peasants?
Imo the government is terrified of people standing up for their rights and dedicates itself to spying on it's citizens to prevent people from asserting their rights.
I think someone desires to be king and make slaves of the populace.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
See something, report something, never think about anything, just do what you're told.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Something new for you.
Breaking news!!
America's VIPs - Wall Street's Successful Capitalists, The MAFIA and the members of the United States Federal Government - already did.
Not that Fascism is actually something new - just something new to non-millionaire Americans.
---
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Old Names
I doubt there is a single common work in the English language, which cannot be stretched into something else in some other language. Well, you've all read Orwell. You all know what NewSpeak is. So why not charge the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) with attempting to implement a version of NewSpeak ("All dogs must be named Rover"), in an attempt to impoverish the language and make it unsuitable for the expression of complex ideas? Further, why not presume that OFAC is doing this with a view to treasonably overthrowing the government from within?
As for Isis, Mother Isis has been around for a matter of five thousand years, and she will certainly still be there when OFAC and a certain Arab political organization have been gathered to the dust of time. We had a Doberman bitch in the family named Isis, and I've known a Great Dane named Echo. Echo lived up to her name, very quiet and shy, and only barked under outrageous provocation from the Scottish Terrier next door.
Since we are talking about things Egyptian, we might link to Shelley's "Ozymandias"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias
"'I am OFAC, king of kings'... nothing remains but the bare desert stretching away..."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Better keep him under surveillance
Friend computer, I would like to report one of my fellow citizens for having not quite enough zeal. Sounds exactly like what a commie mutant terrorist WOULD SAY!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Spineless coward.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Chase are all kinds of dumb
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Security agency special
It would be stupid in the extreme (not that our government cannot be stupid) to put Dash on the lists of 'words that get you screened'.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: That's nothing.
Whatever bank that did that even back at the turn of the new century should have been told that they were morons.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Chase are all kinds of dumb
Sending sensitive information in plaintext over unencrypted connections to a gmail account is ludicrously weak infosec.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I wonder if Mr. Francis knows how far up the ladder this was escalated, and whether he made it onto any lists?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Maybe it's time we just pack this whole America thing up and try again with something new.
The English
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Maybe it's time we just pack this whole America thing up and try again with something new.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Time's Ripe
We have the guns...and iPhones.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: That's nothing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
"I think anything we can do to stop the terrorists and the funding of terrorists, let's do it," he told KTVU. "And if it means an inconvenience to me and my dogwalker, then that's a price I'm totally willing to pay."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Keep bitching about the state of the country, over and over again. And when a politician comes along like Bernie Sander that wants real change, just keep saying "he can never win".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
If missing a dog walking check means he can't make his mortgage payment, that's just a crisis waiting to happen anyway. He obviously can't afford his mortgage.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Chase are all kinds of dumb
Same way with my Chase credit cards.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I imagine he'd be asking what a kph is.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
It depends if the winner is paid via check with a note saying "For the 100m dash".
The banks will read this as funding 100 meters worth of Daesh supplies, which is worse than the dog-walker!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
A terrorist is willing to die to scare his enemies into changing how they act, how they think. His tactical goals are to kill a lot of people -- the people a terrorist kills are not his targets they are collateral damage -- to scare his targets. His strategic goals are what he intends to scare his targets into doing or changing.
Our strategic goals are to live in a peaceful, civilized and free society. Unfortunately, our leaders apparently have not the faintest clue how terrorist tactics work, because their tactics are to surrender to terrorism and hope that will pull out a win. Somehow.
It doesn't matter how many people get killed in the war on terror. They're willing to die if it means winning. And the terrorists are winning. They've won almost every single engagement so far. All we had to do to win the war on terror was to ignore them and keep living our lives in peace and freedom. Instead, we've thrown both peace and freedom away in exchange for imaginary safety. We've already lost the war on terror and will keep losing until someone in authority decides they'd rather win the war.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TUTORING YOUR DOG TO STAY CALM IF THE DOORBELL RINGS
Learn a few tips to teach your dog how to stay calm instead of barking when the doorbell rings. The arrival of guests will no longer be a stressful time! http://doocare.com/tutoring-your-dog-to-stay-calm-if-the-doorbell-rings/
[ link to this | view in thread ]