Strange incident at bank

[dado potato]

I use an online bank which routinely asks about substantial withdrawals (check one online questionnaire pops up on my PC). I believe it is related to their marketing goals. One of the alternative responses: "I found another financial institution with a higher interest rate."

As I recall, one of the responses was "I needed to pay taxes", but I don't think there was an alternative for "romancing a Nigerian Prince".

If I so desire, I can choose not to respond.

I understand that banks are required to report withdrawals over a certain amount to federal regulators. There is no expectation of privacy due to the unblinking eyes of "the war on terror" and anti-money-laundering.

[beckyliz]

In addition, banks are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering laws (BSA/AML). Cash transactions over a certain amount have to be documented and they have to ask the reason (As if anyone will say, "I'm depositing all this cash from my illegal gun sales into my business account to make it look legit."). Basically, the feds make financial institutions do their documentation work for them. Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are reported to the FBI.

[JaneV2.0]

...

As I recall, one of the responses was "I needed to pay taxes", but I don't think there was an alternative for "romancing a Nigerian Prince".
...

By perusing FB come-ons, I have determined that the Nigerian prince scam has been replaced by pages featuring distinguished-looking gray-haired "widowers" who work as surgeons, or on oil rigs, or as surgeons on oil rigs, or as 4-star generals. Pictures of dogs, flowers, and cheesy romantic quotes abound. The more circumspect among them scrub their pages of Nigerian friends or other giveaways, but many of them don't bother. The female scammers just lead with provocative T & A shots. I'd love to know how many of them are actually female.

I met someone who lost tens of thousands of dollars to an on-line romance scammer. I was so aghast at his gullibility that I changed the subject to avoid the details. I've seen documentaries featuring victims of these scams, but I still don't understand the phenomenon. I'd loan/give reasonable amounts of money to about two people, and one of them is dead.