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Old 12-06-2012, 11:48 PM
 
7 posts, read 7,520 times
Reputation: 13

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First post. Thought there were enough economically knowledgeable folks here to give this question a shot that I've been wondering about.

Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to the forum beyond this post and create good discussion.

So here goes...

Considering that most money these days are just numbers on a server somewhere, I'm wondering how hard it would be for a savvy individual to just create his own u.s. dollars in a bank account?

Follow me. Suppose this person incorporates a business in, say, the Isle of Man. If we go to the Society for Interbank Funds Transfer's website we can find that an obscure company like COUTTS AND CO (MANX) LIMITED (whoever that is) has a Swift Code...meaning (I think) that they could have access to send financial transfers through swift.

Consider further that u.s. dollars outside of United States Jurisdiction ("Eurodollars" as they're called) are not really known as they aren't regulated in the same way the United States money supply is...

Why is not feasible for some guy to come along and Swift transfer $1 million to a U.S. bank account that he "created" on a computer server somewhere on the Isle of Man? It'd be enough to make him rich but hardly a drop in the bucket when it comes to the amount of money that is transferred through swift.

Thoughts?
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Old 12-07-2012, 06:46 AM
 
837 posts, read 1,794,566 times
Reputation: 666
Quote:
Originally Posted by p03tic Just1ce View Post
First post. Thought there were enough economically knowledgeable folks here to give this question a shot that I've been wondering about.

Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to the forum beyond this post and create good discussion.

So here goes...

Considering that most money these days are just numbers on a server somewhere, I'm wondering how hard it would be for a savvy individual to just create his own u.s. dollars in a bank account?

Follow me. Suppose this person incorporates a business in, say, the Isle of Man. If we go to the Society for Interbank Funds Transfer's website we can find that an obscure company like COUTTS AND CO (MANX) LIMITED (whoever that is) has a Swift Code...meaning (I think) that they could have access to send financial transfers through swift.

Consider further that u.s. dollars outside of United States Jurisdiction ("Eurodollars" as they're called) are not really known as they aren't regulated in the same way the United States money supply is...

Why is not feasible for some guy to come along and Swift transfer $1 million to a U.S. bank account that he "created" on a computer server somewhere on the Isle of Man? It'd be enough to make him rich but hardly a drop in the bucket when it comes to the amount of money that is transferred through swift.

Thoughts?
Besides it being illegal? Does that count?
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Old 12-07-2012, 07:41 AM
 
882 posts, read 2,084,654 times
Reputation: 599
Harder than you think, and you left out most of the steps required. Put the bong down & go to work, 'mkay?
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Old 12-07-2012, 08:28 AM
 
837 posts, read 1,794,566 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayess1 View Post
Harder than you think, and you left out most of the steps required. Put the bong down & go to work, 'mkay?
Problem #1: SWIFT doesn't transfer money...
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Old 12-07-2012, 08:40 AM
 
Location: North of Canada, but not the Arctic
20,970 posts, read 19,434,375 times
Reputation: 25447
Ever think of working for the U.S. Treasury?
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Old 12-07-2012, 09:46 AM
 
48 posts, read 87,579 times
Reputation: 245
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retroit View Post
Ever think of working for the U.S. Treasury?
good laugh thanks

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Old 12-07-2012, 10:32 AM
 
5,760 posts, read 11,505,269 times
Reputation: 4949
Sort of did this for a while.

Got so fed up with the Corporate Banks, I opened a Privately Held Trust Company.

We could issue our own credit, commercial paper, UCC, etc.

Actually worked better than "real" money.

Worked Great.
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Old 12-07-2012, 10:44 AM
 
Location: Arizona, The American Southwest
54,477 posts, read 33,783,427 times
Reputation: 91677
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quoted Title:
Why couldn't a tech savvy private individual just create money?
The US Treasury has been doing that, and they devalued the Dollar in recent years. When a tech-savy individual does it, it's punishable crime called Counterfitting.

Also, no matter how tech-savy they are, there are safegaurds that are capable of differenciating counterfit from real currency. Not to give tips or anything, but if somebody wants to print money out, it's best to print smaller notes, no larger than $5 bills, and avoid depositing huge sums into an account, in fact it's best to keep them as Cash On Hand and spend them as needed to avoid being caught, or at least hope he or she doesn't get caught.
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Old 12-07-2012, 11:13 AM
 
7 posts, read 7,520 times
Reputation: 13
Lol guys. I realize this is a bit ridiculous and a crime, but hey.

I realize SWIFT is just a messaging service but functionally it is like a real time gross settlement system, almost, like say, FEDWIRE. Sure it'd be "electronic counterfeiting" (I guess you would call it?) but people counterfeit paper currency all the time. I suppose I'm surprised individuals haven't attempted electronic versions of this given that most currency these days are just data on a server some where.

Seems to me a couple complicit FED or SWIFT employees could get the wheels going on something like this.
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Old 12-07-2012, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Londonderry, NH
41,478 posts, read 59,581,341 times
Reputation: 24857
Default Electronic counterfiting

What makes any of you think this is not already happening. Maybe the OP has invented a preexisting scam.
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