The Providence Journal / 28-FEB-06
Pay too much and you could raise the alarm
By BOB KERR

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher
who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in
Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has
breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has
passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is
definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that
he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail."

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have
learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of
the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that
"everything changed after 9/11" thing.

But not Walter.

"We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should
be way away from us in that regard."

He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be
responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say
makes good, solid financial sense.

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum
MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large
payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was
found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected
terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun
through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they
learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their
account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had
arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't
changed.

So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called.

"When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said.

They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the
little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking.

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call
center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their
normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage
higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified.
And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union
and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He
learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

"The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how
easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy."

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were
apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise
of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit
card payment can pose a security threat.

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy
has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid,
middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said.

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