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Why Terrorists Don’t Write Checks

When Bruce Francis ordered up a check for his dog’s walker using his online Chase bank account, he noted on the check’s memo line what it was for: “Dash” — the name of his 9-year-old service dog. “The dog walker comes to me and says, ‘I haven’t gotten your check’,” Francis said. He contact the bank, which referred him to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which told him his check was flagged because “Dash” is similar to “Daesh” — a term for ISIS that the Islamic State hates so much, it threatens to cut out the tongue of anyone using it. “I thought to myself, ‘Great, they’re stopping the world’s stupidest terrorist,” Francis said. Once Francis explained, the agency cleared the payment. “If a name on the OFAC list appears on a payment,” Chase said in a statement, “we are required to review it.” (RC/KTVU Oakland) ...Or, as the case may be, if a name not on the OFAC list appears.