PayPal Stops A Payment Just Because The Payee's Memo Included The Word 'Cuba'
from the read-the-news-lately? dept
Earlier this year, we discussed how a Treasury Department watchlist under the purview of the Office of Foreign Assets Control was mucking up all kinds of legitimate business because some partakers in said business had scary sounding (read: Islamic) names. Everyone began referring to this watchlist as a "terrorist watchlist", as most of the stories concerned people, including American citizens, who either have names that are close to the names of terrorist suspects worldwide or because certain banks can't tell when someone is writing the name of their dog in the memo section, mistaking that name for the name of an Islamic terror group, because why not?
But as it turns out, this hilariously frustrating example of bureaucratic ineptitude isn't limited to global terrorism. It also apparently applies to decades old embargo rivalries, too. Mark Frauenfelder details a wonderful story about how his wife, a book editor, used PayPal to pay for a book review about Cuba, only to have the payment suspended and the notices from PayPal begin to fly.
Carla included a message to Ben in the Paypal transaction, which read, "Hi Ben - Your Castro's Cuba review is up! Thanks so much! Carla."
As soon as she pressed the send button, she got a pop-up message on the PayPal site that informed her that the payment was being held for review. This had never happened before and she had no idea why PayPal was holding up the transaction. Last night, an email arrived from PayPal. It turns out, the problem arose because Carla's message included the forbidden word "Cuba" (and/or possibly "Castro").
Mark embedded the entire email PayPal sent in his post, but you're not going to find much useful within it. It basically just says that using words like "Cuba", which is a country oft discussed in the United States, and "Castro", which is a crazy common last name, triggered the company's compliance controls to meet OFAC requirements. As such, PayPal is asking Carla to write an essay for the class explaining why she would dare write those words in a payment for a book review.
To ensure that activity and transactions comply with current regulations, PayPal is requesting that you provide the following information via email to compliancetransactions@paypal.com:
1. Purpose of payment 0B463347YT949791N attempted on August 16, 2016 in the amount of $30.00USD, including a complete and detailed explanation of the goods or services you intended to purchase. Please also explain the transaction message: "Hi Ben - Your Castro's Cuba review is up! Thanks so much! Carla."
Read that part of PayPal's email. Now read it again. This is bureaucracy at its finest, with a $30 payment triggering all kinds of alarms because of a friendly message about a review. Two things stand out to me. First, exactly what kind of nefarious deeds are both carried out for thirty dollars and then signed off with a friendly memo in the payment section like this? Second, if PayPal is really concerned here, exactly what are they expecting to learn from the "complete and detailed explanation" they are requesting from Carla? Would a Cuban operative using their system do anything other than lie in this explanation? Is the OFAC so strict that it requires these checks, but so lax that the checks amount to the honor system?
Or is it possible that government oversight has reached a level at which it does no good other than to serve as a useful reminder of what a pain in the ass it is?
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I mean, way more than the average person does.
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Re: Cuba
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Re: Cuba
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Re: Re: Cuba
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Re:
what kind of terro-symp commie quisling IS yo mama ? ? ?
secondarily, if i am remembering correctly, these are some crunchy lefty activist types, so it could very well be *they* are being targeted by Big Bother; the trigger word bullshit may just be cover for explicitly targeting them...
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Government monitoring, not corp bureaucracy to blame
This is clearly due to government overreach in every aspect of our life. What is PayPal to do, miss a "suspicious" payment and risk heavy fines or even jail time from the government?
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Re: Government monitoring, not corp bureaucracy to blame
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Re: Re: Government monitoring, not corp bureaucracy to blame
Instead they went for the simplest means possible, and with no way to tune out obvious errors like Scuba.
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The only way that'll change is if consumers start lighting fires under the politicians over the issue of rules that do more harm than good but are defended by ignoring the harm done.
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Re:
you mean -*gasp*- its written in javascript ? ? ?
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Re: Re:
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Unfortunately, the opposite is happening. A large portion of the population wants to hand the government more money and more power so don't expect things to improve.
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Re:
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This is either a (poor) attempt at humor, or you must be new here. It has been well-documented at this site that the BBB is a toothless waste of time.
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Yep, like I needed more confirmation.
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If you are still using PayPal...
It's like feeling sorry for a drug dealer double crossed by a drug dealer!
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Re: If you are still using PayPal...
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Re: If you are still using PayPal...
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Re: If you are still using PayPal...
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first amendment speech
"Hi Ben - Your Castro's Cuba review is up! Thanks so much! Carla."
This is first amendment speech.
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Let's fuck with Paypal
We could bury them in OFAC reporting hell.
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Re: Let's fuck with Paypal
Your payment is being reviewed because of regulations. We'll send an email when it's complete or if we need more information.
Idiots.
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This could mess up Ebay, too.
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Re: This could mess up Ebay, too.
Beat me to it, though I thought of putting "This payment is not going to Castro, nor to Cuba"
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Re: Re: This could mess up Ebay, too.
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Thirty pieces of silver
Ask Judas. It's a middle-Eastern sounding name.
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Welcome to Minecraft
Notch finally got paid, but it looks like let's make a little cash on the side scam by paypal - to me.
To make it even more bizarre remember that Minecraft was coded in Java.
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I have simple rules
disqus == no comment
drm == yeah, ok, whatever
can get any needed things elsewhere
can give 2cents elsewhere
can enjoy whatever wherever whenever
but paypal, in particular, is a dirty little street whore that will fuck anything.
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Re: I have simple rules
That's between consenting adults. Leaving with your wallet isn't.
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Actually PayPal can get really creepy.
I had the temerity to buy a Music CD on Paypal last year whilst using the VPN, triggering an account lock. I then received the following (edited for privacy/brevity) email from Paypal. (My name has been changed to "Nastyperson")
It wasn't a phish, I did verify it's bon fides directly, and spoke with PP several times on the matter.
----
Dear Mr. Nastyperson.
As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding your account.
To meet financial service industry regulations, we need more information to help confirm your identity. To provide this information, please go to the PayPal Resolution Centre.
To find the Resolution Centre, log in to your account and click the Resolution Centre subtab. Click Resolve under the Action column and follow the instructions.
• Please answer the following questions (which can also be answered fromthe Resolution Centre by logging in to your PayPal account):
1. Do you hold a position of public trust or political office?
2. Are you associated with or related to someone in the public trust or political office?
If you answer YES to either of the above listed questions, please provide:
1. Details as to who the individual is; and
2. This person's political or public trust position; and
3. How you are related or affiliated with this person.
* One document to confirm name and date of birth for Mr Nastyperson.
-----
Yes - Paypal locked my account because I used a VPN to access it - and confirmed that this would likely happen again if I used a VPN.
and Yes, the would not unlock my account unless I revealed any association with anybody I knew in public office.
It came as no surprise that the operator I spoke with did not even know what the term "Orwellian" even meant.
terrifying.
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Re: Actually PayPal can get really creepy.
The Paypal Terms of Service were a dystopian novel, not an instruction manual.
Wait... Could have fooled me.
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I know a lot of people roll their eyes at bitcoin, but honestly is it not better than dealing with PayPal?
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What's up with Cuba anyway?
I mean, they are even trying to overtake Cuba on its core embargo trigger, civil asset forfeiture (granted, Cuba robbed the business rather than the middle class, but the principal offense is pretty much the same).
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Re: What's up with Cuba anyway?
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Just don't put anything in the comments
Note for payment: Thanks for your review of Castro's Cuba.
PayPal: Your comment includes flagged words. Although you have no history of sending money to Cuba in the past 10 years of doing business with PayPal, please write an essay about why this transaction should be allowed.
Sender: You got me. I'm actually a Cuban sympathizer looking to overthrow the Castro regime and return Cuba to a democracy. And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for that meddling comment!
So, like other posters are saying: let this be a lesson to everyone to NEVER including a comment when sending a payment- simply send the recipient a separate e-mail saying the payment was sent. Or if you must include a comment, make it generic like "Payment for services".
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Please also explain the transaction message: "Hi Ben - Your Castro's Cuba review is up! Thanks so much! Carla."
A:
review = ICBM
Carla = Putin
Hi = heil
Thanks so much = proceed to bunker
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Purchase Pending
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I can´t even delete my account in protest.
In connection with the issue, PayPal's Compliance Department has reviewed your account and identified activity that we have a couple questions about.
To resolve the compliance inquiry in a timely fashion, PayPal is requesting that you provide the following information via email to compliancetransactions@paypal.com:
On November 05, 2018, you sent a payment (2T711731JD8974915) for the amount of $55 for, "Cuba Debt." We're trying to understand
- Please provide a sales receipt or other documentation pertaining to this transaction.
Please go to the Resolution Center to provide this information. To access the Resolution Center, log in to your account and click "Help" at the top of any page then, click "Resolution Center."
In order to prevent risk for us and our customers, we have limited what you can do with your account until the issue is resolved. Please note that we reserve our right to terminate our account relationship and close your PayPal account if we are unable to resolve this issue.
We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
PayPal Compliance Department
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My payment is pending too.
I bought "gunmetal" colored earphones.
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