moneygram and lbc

I'm just curious if anybody knows if there's a limit you should watch for when buying btc from lbc. mg has been my main source of obtaining them for a while and I can't get that out of my head, everytime I give the people behind the register my phone number they pull up my history and ask if I've sent to someone before or if it'll be a new one. I guess I'm just worried with the amount of btc I get and the lack of payroll on paper.. it'll look weird lol like raise some flags to the irs or something you know.


Comments


[3 Points] baby_clouds:

TL;DR at the bottom

All quotes taken from "Latin America and the Caribbean Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Guide", though to the best of my knowlede all of these will apply to the US as well. Here's where you can find the book: http://corporate.moneygram.com/Documents/Corp%20site%20docs/Compliance/LatAm%20and%20Caribbean/aml_lacaml0908_eng.pdf

Takeaways:

Photo Identification must be shown and recorded for any transfers over 900 dollars. The lack of any section on dealing with unvalidated ID info leads me to believe that this is not verified beyond merely looking at the photo ID.

Customer identification is required for all send transactions equivalent to US$ 900 or more. Before completing any money transfer send or receive transaction, you must verify the customer’s identity by examining a locally accepted form of identification that contains the person’s name, address and date of birth; this may include a driver’s license, passport or other government issued document verifying nationality or residence. MoneyGram requires that for whichever form of identification is used, it must contain a photograph and is current/not expired.

Keep all transactions under 3k

Additional information including date of birth and occupation are required by MoneyGram for all transactions equivalent to US $3,000(USD) or more. MoneyGram requires the same verification procedure for all “Receives” regardless of the amount. Identification is required for all receive transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean. MoneyGram requires you to retain the following records: Minimum 5 years • MoneyGram forms equivalent to US $3,000 or more • Signed MoneyGram money transfer receipts for transactions equivalent to US $3,000 or more

All records of transfers less than 3k are retained for only 6 months.

Luckily for you, they are only trained to ask about your occupation if the ammount is over 3k:

Additional information including date of birth and occupation are required by MoneyGram for all transactions equivalent to US $3,000 (USD) or more.

As long as you stay under 3k, your only problem should be avoiding a Suspicious Transaction Report. I'll quote the relevant sections:

Basic examples of suspicious activity:   • A customer asks an employee how to avoid a reporting requirement.   • A customer threatens or bribes an employee to avoid providing information or having a report filed.   • A customer uses an apparently fake identification or more than one customer tries to use the same identification.   • A customer refuses to proceed with a transaction when asked for identification.   • A customer refuses to provide all of the information required or seems excessively nervous or anxious.   • A customer (or group of customers working together) sends or receives money transfers in amounts just below the recordkeeping thresholds or to avoid reporting. This would include anytime a transaction requires the customer to present identification.   • A customer conducts transactions that are unusually large based on their past history, employment or level of income.   Detailed examples of suspicious activity:   The threshold for additional information in your country is US$5,000 and:   Example 1: A customer sends a US$4,500 money transfer. The next day the customer sends US$4,500 to the same person. The customer may be structuring his transactions in order to avoid High Currency Amount Transaction Reporting requirements. You should consider whether a Suspicious Transaction Report should be filed.   Example 2: A customer sends money transfers just below US$5,000 over the course of several days. The customer may be structuring his purchases and you should consider whether a Suspicious Transaction Report needs to be filed.   The threshold for additional information in your country is US$10,000 and:   Example 3: You see Jim hand cash to Bill and Susan outside your store. Bill and Susan each send money transfers that total less than US$10,000 for each of them, but total more than US$10,000 together. This appears to be a structured transaction and may require the filing of a High Currency Amount Transaction Report and/or a Suspicious Transaction Report.   Example 4: A customer comes in several times on the same day to pick up money transfers which add up to more than US $10,000. If required by your local regulations you must file a High Currency Amount Transaction Report. You should also determine whether a Suspicious Transaction Report needs to be filed Example 5 : Jim and Bill each pick up money transfers. Neither money transfer alone exceeds US $10,000 , but together they exceed US $10,000 . You give Jim and Bill cash in the amount of their separate money transfers. You then see Jim and Bill give the cash to Susan. These appear to be structured and suspicious transactions. If you conclude that structured transactions occurred, you must file a Suspicious Transaction Report. If you conclude that structured activity has not occurred, but you determine that Jim and Bill are acting on the behalf of Susan, and your regulations require it you must file a High Currency Amount Transaction Report. Example 6 : A customer picks up a money transfer from your location. After the customer has left, you discover that the customer also picked up money transfers at some of your other offices on the same day. The customer may be attempting to avoid the reporting requirements. You should consider whether structured or suspicious activity has occurred. If you conclude that structured or suspicious activity has occurred, you must file a Suspicious Transaction Report. If the total amount of currency paid to the customer passes the local High Currency Amount Transaction Reporting requirements, you should also consider filing a High Currency Amount Transaction report. Example 7 : A customer says that he wants to send a US $11,000 money transfer that he wants to pay for with cash. When you tell the customer that you will need to complete a High Currency Amount Transaction Report, he says that he no longer wants to send the transaction, or asks how he can avoid having a report filed on the transaction. You should consider filing a Suspicious Transaction Report on the transaction or attempted transaction.

the TL;DR version of the above is basically

1: Don't make your transfers look like you're structuring to get around transaction filling requirements

2: Don't act nervous like you're doing something wrong. Remember, buying bitcoins isn't illegal.

3: Don't give the agent a reason to suspect you don't have a legitimate source of income. Dress well. It might be a good idea to have a quick excuse memorized. They won't ask for any proof as long as the transaction is under 3k.

4: Don't look like a drug dealer.

5: Try not to make multiple transactions in a day, unless you have a plausible excuse for doing so.

As you've probably gathered by now, the magic number is 3k. Keep all your individual transactions under 3k and try not to get anywhere near 10k in a day. I'd keep it under 10k a month if you can, if not a week is probably sufficient. A warning might get triggered if you go over 10k a month; I don't have a source for that though, so take that with a grain of salt.

The good news is that it seems like the IRS will only be alerted to your activity if the agent files either a High Currency Amount Transaction Report or a Suspicious Transaction Report. The bad news is that the Moneygram agent will never tell you when they are filing an STR, so you've got to be proactive in making sure that doesn't happen.

Hopefully some of this helps. I've dabbled in using Moneygram through LBC and while it definitely has a place, I would avoid relying entirely on it for all of your coins.


[1 Points] lordredvampire:

We have a darknet exchange via i2p: exchanged.i2p

Enjoy.


[1 Points] None:

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