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Comment by dannyincolor | Hacker News Reader

So, the current situation if you get scammed via Venmo/PayPal or other electronic payment methods is for the FBI / local law enforcement to subpoena the provider for records about the incident.

Now, imagine all that data is sitting on Federal servers by default. No subpoena required, and fraud systems would be integrated directly with investigative services at the Federal level. This integration should strike fear in the heart of anyone who currently scams via 3rd-party payment providers.

I am bothered that fraud isn't directly addressed in this page, but it's only an FAQ and it'd be silly to think the Fed wouldn't build industry standard (or better) fraud protections into a system they're building from scratch.

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No, the current situation if you get scammed via a credit card or PayPal is that you file a chargeback, and PP/card company reverses the transaction, because withdrawing money takes time. And if the transaction is not reversible, then PP/CC company take the hit on their own bottom line.

Is the federal government going to take on that risk? What makes you think they can afford to hire programmers who are skilled enough to build out a sophisticated fraud detection system? The highest GS pay scale is lower than what a new grad makes at Stripe/PayPal.

> The highest GS pay scale is lower than what a new grad makes at Stripe/PayPal.

It's better if you compare benefits and cost of living. Or if Stripe fires you because your manager didn't like that you tweeted a joke about Elon Musk once (apparently this happens).

The only better benefit is a guaranteed pension after you work 20+ years in government. But since pensions nowadays are chronically underfunded and you make literally 3x (!) more at the equivalent level at Stripe/Paypal/etc. a 401k is a more than good enough substitute for the pension.

Health insurance is definitely better at the tech company. Cost of living varies - Washington DC/Northern VA is not cheap, and Washington state (where Stripe is based) has no state income tax.

I think very few people would take the government job, particularly the type of people okay with taking big risks that you need to build out a greenfield fraud detection and payment system.

>So, the current situation if you get scammed via Venmo/PayPal or other electronic payment methods is for the FBI / local law enforcement to subpoena the provider for records about the incident.

Imagine so confidently posting something so wrong. No, that’s not how it works in the US. Every credit card company (and PayPal-like company) has a massive anti-fraud department that both automatically detects fraud and responds to consumer complaints. If I see a charge I don’t recognize, or a seller fleeced me, I call my credit card company and they give me my money back and fine the shit out of the seller’s account unless the seller can prove to them that the charge is legitimate. Yes, ultimate recourse is to court, but very rarely is that necessary.

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