The schoolteacher and his wife paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance [$6,522], and then checked online to see if their account had been credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn’t changed. They called to see what the problem was.
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.
For paying off your credit card.
Weird! I wonder if this is why the large credit card payment I made a few months ago took so long to register? How is it a national threat to pay your debts?
Paying off your debts undermines the economy. How else are those credit card companies going to keep collecting the 25%-32% interest on your debts (which they can then put into giant compensation packages for the corporate bigwigs, while out-sourcing daily operations to India for pennies on the dollar)? Paying off your debts? Why do you hate America?
A sudden increase in spending can be an indicator that you’ve acquired a new source of income. That could be from crime, or it might be from a foreign power, or a terrorist organization. That said, it does feel like a tenous reason to investigate private citizens in a free society. I guess the thinking is that terrorists can recruit private citizens as well as people in more powerful positions. Still feels wierd.
It happened recently to a ren-friend who is a political columnist in CD. I expect a really good column out of it.
For soem reason, this just made me think of this animated short:
http://67.15.182.229/piggybankpinko.html
Cut your hair, hippie! (snicker)
Because if we pay off our debts, the terrorists win.
Then we can all drive Canyoneros!
It’s a possible symptom of money laundering. Same reason bills over $100 were retired and bank transactions over $10,000 are reported to the DEA, likewise folks who pay cash for immediate round trip air faire and don’t check luggage are flagged as suspected drug couriers.