Terror Watch List Misuse: Everyday Accounts

Banks use the watch list of suspected terrorists maintained by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to assist in identifying potential financial transaction violations, such as when a Muslim charity wants to use its services for overseas transfers to send humanitarian aid. Now the wide spread use of the OFAC list is being exposed. For example many Americans are being denied jobs and various services because their names are similar to others who are designated. A report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area details these ordinary citizens who have had difficulties in obtaining a loan, purchasing a car, and even purchasing exercise equipment. Unfortunately, if someone is mistaken for someone on the list, there is no way for Treasury to actually address complaints of OFAC screening. Many have been turned away from businesses instead of having the chance to provide more identification documents to prove the mistake. The report, "The OFAC List: How a Treasury Department Terrorist Watchlist Ensnares Everyday Consumers [1]," results in the unnerving realization that anyone can be affected. A Washington Post article, "Ordinary Customers Flagged as Terrorists," [2] covered this story as well.