Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

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Sat, 4 Mar 2006 03:14:47 -0800 (PST)

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

 

 

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

By BOB KERR

 

The Providence Journal

28-FEB-06

 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher

who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in

Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while. So the

Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at

the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test

and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that

he was " madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail. "

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have

learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of

the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that

" everything changed after 9/11 " thing. But not Walter.

 

" We're a product of the '60s, " he said. " We believe government should

be way away from us in that regard. " He was referring to the recent

decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of

thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense.

 

They paid down some debt. 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.

 

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union

and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He

learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

 

" The more I'm on, the scarier it gets, " he said. " It's scary how

easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy. "

 

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were

apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise

of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit

card payment can pose a security threat.

 

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy

has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid,

middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

" If it can happen to me, it can happen to others, " he said.

(Bob Kerr is a columnist for The Providence Journal. E-mail

bkerr.)