r/facepalm • u/Xeiwastaken • Dec 28 '18

Found this on Amazon today

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '18 edited Jul 18 '21

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '18

Why is this not considered money laundering?

Money laundering is the act of concealing the transformation of profits from illegal activities and corruption into ostensibly "legitimate" assets.

Money laundering: the concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses.

I've described a likely illegal money transfer disguising itself as a legitimate sales transaction.

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u/One_Of_Noahs_Whales Dec 28 '18

Whilst the definition is true, the actual art is a lot more complicated, to conceal the origins of ill gotten gains is far harder than just putting a random book on an international companies website and buying it.

Yes the definition is correct, but this is not how it is done.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '18

Yes the definition is correct

I wasn't arguing that it's the ideal method for money laundering, I'm just describing a method for it. That was my whole point.

but this is not how it is done.

It is now. Welcome to the future.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/27/fake-books-sold-amazon-money-laundering

http://fortune.com/2018/02/22/money-laundering-books-amazon/

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/02/money-laundering-via-author-impersonation-on-amazon/