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Thread: Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

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    Default Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

    this could be of particular interest to camgirls ... from


    (snip)"we were not surprised to learn just this, following the latest report from Germany's Spiegel that "The National Security Agency (NSA) widely monitors international payments, banking and credit card transactions" and has even created an internal branch titled appropriately enough "Follow The Money" (FTM). Once collected, the data then flows into the NSA's own financial databank, called "Tracfin," which in 2011 contained 180 million records. Some 84 percent of the data is from credit card transactions.

    Stated simply: every time you "charge it" and a credit card is swiped, literally or metaphorically, the NSA knows all about it and if it triggers a specific filter, congratulations: the NSA will be tracking your every transaction in perpetuity.

    Further NSA documents from 2010 show that the NSA also targets the transactions of customers of large credit card companies like VISA for surveillance. NSA analysts at an internal conference that year described in detail how they had apparently successfully searched through the US ]complex transaction network for tapping possibilities.

    (snip)"But while collecting credit card data was to be expected, what is even worse is that the NSA has also secretly planted itself in the nexus of the entire global USD-intermediated financial transactions system courtesy of SWIFT.

    The NSA's Tracfin data bank also contained data from the Brussels-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a network used by thousands of banks to send transaction information securely. SWIFT was named as a "target," according to the documents, which also show that the NSA spied on the organization on several levels, involving, among others, the agency's "tailored access operations" division. One of the ways the agency accessed the data included reading "SWIFT printer traffic from numerous banks," the documents show.

    (snip)"But even intelligence agency employees are somewhat concerned about spying on the world finance system, according to one document from the UK's intelligence agency GCHQ concerning the legal perspectives on "financial data" and the agency's own co-operations with the NSA in this area.

    In other words, America's unsupervised uber spies, when not checking in on their former significant others, spend the bulk of their time tracking who is buying what, where, and with whose money.

    They also know how much anyone in the world has spent on credit card-based purchases, what the source of that money is, and what the purchase was. In other words: absolute monetary and financial surveillance.

    And since SWIFT is involved, it likely also means a full blanket coverage of who buys what "(snip)


    Vamp can confirm this, but it is my understanding that SWIFT is the international clearinghouse for bank to bank funds transfers. Thus between across the border bank transfers, and across the border credit card company transfers, and across the border checks, a few possible take-aways from the above may be ...

    - camgirl payments from 'offshore' webcam hosts are in the NSA's database
    - camgirl payments via debit / credit card based payment processing services are in the NSA's database
    - customer credit card charges for webcam host services are in the NSA's database

    What isn't mentioned is what the NSA actually does with this financial info, and who the NSA might share that info with ! Obviously, the NSA and the IRS have a strong connection, since this connection was the recent topic of news stories and a congressional hearing.

    It also pretty well goes without saying that domestic credit card charges are being similarly monitored, which might be a factor for dancers working in clubs where customer credit card charges comprise a substantial amount of the clubs' / dancers' earnings.

    The bottom line of all this seems to be that formerly 'anonymous' camgirl earnings from offshore webcam hosts who were known not to issue 1099's to the IRS may not have been all that 'anonymous' after all .....

    It also remains to be seen what effect, if any, the known tracking of webcam and strip club customer credit card spending may affect the future spending habits of those customers.
    Last edited by Melonie; 09-15-2013 at 03:05 PM.

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    Default Re: Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

    ^^Ugh... Looks like the zerohedge show is back.

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    Default Re: Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    Vamp can confirm this, but it is my understanding that SWIFT is the international clearinghouse for bank to bank funds transfers. Thus between across the border bank transfers, and across the border credit card company transfers, and across the border checks, a few possible take-aways from the above may be ...

    - camgirl payments from 'offshore' webcam hosts are in the NSA's database
    - camgirl payments via debit / credit card based payment processing services are in the NSA's database
    - customer credit card charges for webcam host services are in the NSA's database

    What isn't mentioned is what the NSA actually does with this financial info, and who the NSA might share that info with ! Obviously, the NSA and the IRS have a strong connection, since this connection was the recent topic of news stories and a congressional hearing.

    It also pretty well goes without saying that domestic credit card charges are being similarly monitored, which might be a factor for dancers working in clubs where customer credit card charges comprise a substantial amount of the clubs' / dancers' earnings.

    The bottom line of all this seems to be that formerly 'anonymous' camgirl earnings from offshore webcam hosts who were known not to issue 1099's to the IRS may not have been all that 'anonymous' after all .....

    It also remains to be seen what effect, if any, the known tracking of webcam and strip club customer credit card spending may affect the future spending habits of those customers.
    Swift is used for international currency transfers from one bank account to another. That is true. But it is only used for wire transfers. The best rule of thumb .... if you had to give them a swift code to set up the transfer. Direct deposits into checking accounts generally do not require Swift codes. ( different type of processing long story not going to go into details)

    Credit card processing would mean Visa and MasterCard have been compromised as well. They are the largest clearinghouses for credit card processing. They are the only ones who would have access to both sides of the credit card transaction.

    If you are making money, 1099 or not, it isnt anonymous anyway though. As long as you are paying taxes, where is the problem?

    Having said that, some folks in other countries are pulling out of American websites and companies because the NSA. The future possibilities of how this info could be used is unnerving.
    If you have connections or transactions with a VIP (politics, entertainment, rich, or powerful) person I wouldnt be using electronic processing of any kind. You might accidentally find yourself in the middle of a scandal that no one knew about but the NSA.

    As a side note: word thru the grape vine is that the Fed is forming legislation to reign in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies like it. It is growing in popularity too fast. They cant use current regulations around it because they refuse to see it as legal tender. My prediction is they will legislate it out of existence. The dollar, credit cards, and paypal do not want the competition.
    Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain


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    Default Re: Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

    As long as you are paying taxes, where is the problem?
    Obviously if this is in fact the case then there isn't a problem ! However, based on the number of questions from camgirls seeking info regarding which offshore webcam hosts do and do not issue 1099's to the IRS, and questions regarding whether or not debit / credit card based payment processing services independently generate 1099's to the IRS, it is improbable that this is always the case. Thus my motivation to post this news blurb.


    If you have connections or transactions with a VIP (politics, entertainment, rich, or powerful) person I wouldnt be using electronic processing of any kind. You might accidentally find yourself in the middle of a scandal that no one knew about but the NSA.
    The 'flip side' of this, of course, may be that VIP customers may now be very leery of spending money on 'adult entertainment' related businesses !


    ^^Ugh... Looks like the zerohedge show is back.
    German media outlet Der Spiegel actually broke the story. Several other US media outlets are now reporting on it a day after Zerohedge did.

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    Default Re: Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

    This could have bigger and more immediate ramifications

    HONG KONG (CNNMoney)
    Americans, take your money elsewhere!

    That's what banks around the world have been telling their U.S. customers, as they try to avoid having to comply with a new tax law due to come into force next year.
    The U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which requires businesses to report all assets held by Americans, aims to recoup the hundreds of billions the U.S. says it loses each year from tax evasion. But it's also leading global banks big and small to dump U.S. customers rather than wrestle with the complicated law.
    Proper compliance -- which means reporting everything from basic savings accounts, pension funds, investments, and more -- could easily cost institutions millions each year, he estimated. And penalties are severe; businesses face a 30% tax on U.S.-sourced income if they fail to comply.

    http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/15/news...out/index.html
    Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain


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    Default Re: Has SWIFT been 'taken over' - NSA 'Follow The Money' program made public !

    ^^^ yup, FACTA has been prompting foreign banks to reject / close the accounts of US citizens for several months now ... or at least accounts with less than a million dollars in them ! My own Swiss account was already forcibly closed. Basically, if you are not a citizen / legal resident of another country, you're screwed in regard to opening / keeping an account in an international bank which has ANY business dealings in the USA ... because the international banks would rather lose the profits than face the expenses and potential penalties of FACTA compliance.

    It remains to be seen what affect, if any, this may have on available future payment methods for US camgirls working through foreign webcam hosts.

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