back to article DARPA asking for ideas on automating money laundering detection

Tracking down and preventing money laundering is a slow, time-consuming, manual procedure. DARPA is hoping it can provide some relief for exhausted analysts by automating the process.  The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced the Anticipatory and Adaptive Anti-Money Laundering (A3ML) program last week …

  1. Jared Vanderbilt

    Sorry, I can't help

    I'm too busy training my AI to launder money, and I'm way behind everyone else.

  2. may_i Silver badge
    FAIL

    False positives FTW!

    It's bad enough already with all the petty restrictions on what I can do with my own money without having to look forward to being dragged out of bed at 4AM by a bunch of trigger happy goons just because some fucked up ML model decided to flag me.

    1. MachDiamond Silver badge

      Re: False positives FTW!

      "without having to look forward to being dragged out of bed at 4AM by a bunch of trigger happy goons just because some fucked up ML model decided to flag me."

      Which is one of the worst things to do in the US with so many owning firearms. Obviously people are not going to respond well to shouting and banging waking them up from a sound sleep. It has the same outward appearance of a home invasion robbery except the thugs will all have the same sort of weapons (not left to individual choice), same sort of non-hoodie wardrobe but still in large black SUV's (except not stolen).

      You'd think that with some proper police work that such raids would not be necessary. They might even get the right house more often as well.

  3. Omnipresent Silver badge

    ummmmmm....

    Maybe you should start by looking at how the US politicians do it? Just ask mitch and the gang. They're experts.

  4. beast666 Silver badge

    Here's an idea:

    Stop laundering money through Ukraine.

    1. Omnipresent Silver badge

      ^^^ There's your ruspublican, ask him.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's done through Ukraine

      Because when you try to do it through Russia, Putin & his gang steal all of it.

    3. Casca Silver badge

      Good little maga moron. Fuck off back to twitter

      1. IGotOut Silver badge

        It's a Russian troll bot but not a very good one.

  5. IGotOut Silver badge

    It's easy to spot in any country...

    Freeports.

    Art

    Stock Exchanges.

    There that's 90%

    The other 10%?

    Mobile phone shops

    Vape shops

    Those clothes shops you see in shopping centres with 10 staff and 1 customer (per day).

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      Re: It's easy to spot in any country...

      Hairdressers? I was talking to a friend in Somerset who said he can't get over how there's six hairdressers in the town centre and few people ever seem to be inside. It's probably a front for the local Mafia wannabes, and a convenient place to quietly get hooked up - you hand over papers of dead royalty and they'll hand back some reality alterations.

      1. sev.monster

        Re: It's easy to spot in any country...

        "papers of dead royalty" is probably the most metal way I've ever heard anyone refer to fiat currency. About as relevant too given the thing that used to give it value is also long gone.

    2. MachDiamond Silver badge

      Re: It's easy to spot in any country...

      Any business that often deals in cash can be used for laundering. Dog grooming is a good one. Consulting businesses, independent home inspectors, and other services companies can charge whatever they like, claim all sorts of expenses and pay large salaries. It would take the plod more than the amount of work they are wont to do to look up statistics on what a particular soft of consultant is paid. As long as tax is paid somewhere in the chain, the dogs will bark only very quietly. Trying to avoid all tax while shifting inconveniently large sums of money around is where many will go wrong. The other problem is those people displaying more wealth than their cover story would admit. A dog groomer isn't likely going to be able to afford Rolex watches and drive a Ferrari.

  6. stiine Silver badge

    the first thing they need to do....

    The first thing they need to do is increase the $600 reporting limit based on the inflation since that rule was implemented. If I remember correctly, a few years ago, that number should have been increased to at least $200000. Otherwise, they can F right off.

  7. chivo243 Silver badge

    Dark spots

    Too bad we have places like Switzerland and the Caymans, they are like a redacted document in the banking world.

    1. MachDiamond Silver badge

      Re: Dark spots

      "Too bad we have places like Switzerland and the Caymans, they are like a redacted document in the banking world."

      Not so much Switzerland and not for some time. They used to be the go to place to stack up one's wealth, but ages ago they had their arm twisted to where they hand over that information and numbered accounts aren't anonymous at the same time. I know somebody that had to break a few rocks for having unreported funds stored in Switzerland. He and his wife didn't get more than token terms, but they did have to sell off a couple of good businesses they spent a lifetime building.

  8. Dr Sendy

    Frankie One, meet DARPA, DARPA, Meet Frankie One.

    (The Australians have been working on this for the past 5 or so years, because our largest trading partner had some rather large money laundering problems which we were in the middle of).

  9. naive

    Why AI ???

    Just put cops on the street, stop every flashy car like AMG benzes, M-model beamers, Italian sports cars with too noisy exhausts, driven by a certain type and age of people, and check where the funds came from to buy this car. If something is fishy, check their whole family, with high confidence there is more, the DOJ should seize every asset they find and fly the crap off with a C-130 to the country they came from in over 90% of the cases. No AI needed, and within a year the streets are disinfected like they are surgery rooms.

    1. MachDiamond Silver badge

      Re: Why AI ???

      "If something is fishy, check their whole family, with high confidence there is more"

      Gasp, this almost sounds like doing actual police work. It does trample a few rights along the way to investigate people without probable cause, though. There are people that will scrimp, save and live a monk's life to buy "that" car they've coveted their whole life. Rather stupid in my opinion. Better to set one's self up to be able to afford those sorts of things rather than neglecting to spend strategically to build a good wealth foundation.

    2. IGotOut Silver badge

      Re: Why AI ???

      So racial profiling?

      Trump will be proud of you, as only homegrown white men can have money.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Trump will shut this down

    Can’t be inconveniencing his friends!

    1. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Trump will shut this down

      Can’t be inconveniencing his family!

      FIFY

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