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One of the two focuses of the secret service is financial crimes: "Financial Crimes, covering missions such as prevention and investigation of counterfeit U.S.

by gavazzy 11y ago

One of the two focuses of the secret service is financial crimes: "Financial Crimes, covering missions such as prevention and investigation of counterfeit U.S. currency, U.S. treasury securities, and investigation of major fraud." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service

sandworm101 11y ago
I am well aware of their various duties. That doesn't detract from my point that enforcement by such an agency is a remarkably inefficient means of addressing the problem.
- graeme 11y ago
  Why? You haven't said anything about the organization that would let us judge if they're effective or not. Prima facie this is within their purview.
  - sandworm101 11y ago
    The Secret Service is a federal agency. They are arguably a step up the ladder from the FBI. Their people do not come cheap. In this case they are being deployed against scammers who are filling homemade tankers with gas ... not big fish. (fyi, the Secret Service really really doesn't like the SS acronym. I made that mistake in a memo once. They are the one US agency without cool initials.) It is almost always better/cheaper to prevent a crime from happening by removing the opportunity. Without bringing in spreadsheets and US federal budget reports, having the CC industry deploy a technological solution is cheaper than investigating, trying, arresting and housing these criminals. Gas pumps are expensive units, require regular service, and each move thousands of dollars worth of gas every day. A few bucks for the chip reader is no great burden.
    - graeme 11y ago
      Thanks! There's not a lot of info on the Secret Service's financial side (at least I didn't see much in Wikipedia) so it's hard to assess what's a normal use of their resources.
    - mikeash 11y ago
      Regarding the initials, isn't USSS somewhat standard? It avoids the unfortunate associations that come with SS.

by gavazzy 11y ago

sandworm101 11y ago

I am well aware of their various duties. That doesn't detract from my point that enforcement by such an agency is a remarkably inefficient means of addressing the problem.

graeme 11y ago
Why? You haven't said anything about the organization that would let us judge if they're effective or not. Prima facie this is within their purview.
- sandworm101 11y ago
  The Secret Service is a federal agency. They are arguably a step up the ladder from the FBI. Their people do not come cheap. In this case they are being deployed against scammers who are filling homemade tankers with gas ... not big fish. (fyi, the Secret Service really really doesn't like the SS acronym. I made that mistake in a memo once. They are the one US agency without cool initials.) It is almost always better/cheaper to prevent a crime from happening by removing the opportunity. Without bringing in spreadsheets and US federal budget reports, having the CC industry deploy a technological solution is cheaper than investigating, trying, arresting and housing these criminals. Gas pumps are expensive units, require regular service, and each move thousands of dollars worth of gas every day. A few bucks for the chip reader is no great burden.
  - graeme 11y ago
    Thanks! There's not a lot of info on the Secret Service's financial side (at least I didn't see much in Wikipedia) so it's hard to assess what's a normal use of their resources.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Regarding the initials, isn't USSS somewhat standard? It avoids the unfortunate associations that come with SS.