Pay too much and you could raise the alarm The Providence Journal reports on Walter and Deana Soehnge's J.C. Penney account that got too big : 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. http://nalert.blogspot.com/2006/03/pay-too-much-and-you-could-raise-alarm.html
WTF? I pay off my credit cards each and every month....both home and office.....and I have never noticed any stoppage of being credited. This sounds bogus to me...but if true, it would be alarming. The patriot act sucks.... Can we please swing back to the left? This country needs to get out of this new Macarthyism. DD
You are an example of the exact opposite situation. It is suspicious when a person makes the minimum payment every month, and then suddenly pays far more in a lump sum. One wonders why they suddenly have enough money to pay far more. It is worth checking to see if they got that money legally. Since you pay off your balance every month, there is nothing suspicious about you paying it off in any individual month.
Hum? This does sound iffy I paid off some balances at the end of the year with the christmas bonus and didn't have any problem. or so I think...
SM, why on earth should someone have to make an "explanation," or defend doing something that is a business decision that breaks no law, because it is "suspicious??" What is suspicious about the kind of transaction these people made? As mc mark pointed out, some folks get year-end bonuses, or occassional lump sums that are perfectly legitimate. Why should they be targeted for investigation? If there was any entity that might have a reason to look into it (which I don't think they do), it would be the IRS. What sort of society to you wish to live in, StupidMoniker? Keep D&D Civil.
So in other words anyone does anything out of their norm then Homeland Security should be notified? So if I get a bonus and want to reduce the compounding interests on my credit cards by applying that bonus to my credit card then Homeland Security should be notified? Truly Orwellian.
Why should the authorities be notified if you bring a substantial amount of money into the country. It is because there is a possibility of criminal behavior (most likely tax evasion, but also terrorism, drug traffiking, etc). No one is arresting them or anything, just making some checks to see that everything is on the up and up. Maybe they did get a large bonus and choose to use it to pay off their credit card. In that case, their pay stubs will show the bonus and the matter will be closed. No harm is being done to them in any case.
