

Ask HN: Are Your Donations to EFF Triggering Bank Fraud Protection Measures? - wlj

HSBC (UK) has erroneously blocked my monthly donations to the EFF on the basis of &quot;fraud protection&quot; for 2 consecutive months now and I&#x27;m wondering whether this is a more widespread issue.<p>Also, is there any good reason why the EFF would be triggering this type of transaction block with banks?
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cjbprime
Donations to charity in general often cause credit cards to be blocked -- my
wife and I do this thing[1] where we give large amounts to multiple charities
on the same day each year, and last year it took a couple days to get all the
charges to be successful and cards unblocked.

I think the idea is that credit card thieves use charitable donations to
figure out whether they have a valid card, so they're considered especially
suspicious[2].

[1]: [http://blog.printf.net/articles/2012/11/27/celebrating-
seven...](http://blog.printf.net/articles/2012/11/27/celebrating-seven-years-
with-seven-percent/)

[2]: [http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/070607-credit-card-
thi...](http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/070607-credit-card-thieves.html)

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thejteam
This is true. I've had donations to Heifer delayed by credit cards before.
I've heard is is pretty common.

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gustoffen
In case you didn't know, the EFF takes bitcoin donations now.

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cyphunk
and depending on your route in bitcoin may cause just as much scrutiny on your
financial endpoints.

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andrewcooke
i haven't had problems, but do it annually (i can't remember how, but i would
guess it's credit card). i am in chile.

