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Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#41

Post by JumpCrisscross »

jayrot wrote: post #36
nickpinkston wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that be different that doing this on any eComm platform? I don't understand what's unique about doing it through Turo.

It's not all that unique, it's just that "daily car rentals" are pretty amorphous. Similar to how the car wash was the go-to money launder on Breaking Bad. If you have some other eComm platform telling T-shirts or whatever, sure there could be fake orders but it wouldn't be all that hard to track down that these THINGS were never sent/made. But anything involving a service...well, it's much harder to prove that those…

> It's not all that unique, it's just that "daily car rentals" are pretty amorphous

It’s also tough to verify an actual transaction happened. With most e-commerce, the equivalent would involve shipping around boxes of rocks to generate tracking numbers.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#42

Post by 8ytecoder »

voldacar wrote: post #26
wardedVibe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, there's a lot of speculation that this is exactly what NFT art is most commonly used for.

physical art too

I'd guess, it's easier with art than any of the other options listed. IF, they are caught and audited, it would be hard to justify paying $10,000 to install a TV mount. On the other hand, who can question (or prove in court) that a $100,000 painting isn't worth $100,000.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#43

Post by landa »

To go against all the negative comments here - I love Turo and use it all the time. The comment regarding money laundering doesn't even make sense - Turo charges for insurance and fees, it would be an expensive way to launder money. The fact that you don't see the final price right away is annoying but not uncommon. It's usually way cheaper than traditional car rental companies, anyway.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#44

Post by wccrawford »

gnicholas wrote: post #29
jjoonathan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engaging at any level with the idea that the fee is for any purpose other than lying about price in advertisements is giving it too much credit.

You're right. I was thinking about Airbnb, which has cleaning fees that can be pretty hefty on one-night rentals. And those are understandable because someone needs to come in and change the sheets/towels, wash dishes, etc. But there's no "bedsheets" analog for a car rental. Yes, it needs to be washed, but I imagine most renters of Priuses don't actually care if the car hasn't been washed in a few days/weeks.

I agree that that service should be considered in the price of the rental, but I disagree that it should be separate from the rest of the rental fee. It's required, and it's only separated out to make the rental look cheaper, right up until you get hit with that fee.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#45

Post by mattnewton »

jayrot wrote: post #36
nickpinkston wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that be different that doing this on any eComm platform? I don't understand what's unique about doing it through Turo.

It's not all that unique, it's just that "daily car rentals" are pretty amorphous. Similar to how the car wash was the go-to money launder on Breaking Bad. If you have some other eComm platform telling T-shirts or whatever, sure there could be fake orders but it wouldn't be all that hard to track down that these THINGS were never sent/made. But anything involving a service...well, it's much harder to prove that those…

Car wash flow is slightly different right? Because it is a cash heavy business - in that case the "laundering" happens through cooking the books to make the business seem more successful (with more cash inflows) than it actually has. That cash comes from some illicit activity with different parties than the car wash and slowly supplements the main income from running the legitimate business. In the turo example, unless I am misunderstanding, the drug dealer or whoever is providing an illicit service asks for payment through a car rental? And so now your customers have knowledge and participation in the laundering scheme.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#46

Post by bravo22 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #40
ellard wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate?

> Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate? Beth has dirty money. Bob, a friend of Beth’s, “rents” her car. (There is no car. Maybe Bob pays Beth over Turo and then Beth gives Bob the dirty cash.) Beth now has the appearance of legitimate income.

Bob has the same problem as Beth in showing the sources of his funds as being legitimate to justify his lavish spending on car rentals.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#47

Post by ellard »

SOTGO wrote: post #30
ellard wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate?

Instead of paying for what the dealer is selling you rent his car for the same amount of money. You don't actually drive it (so it costs the dealer nothing in depreciation) but now the dealer has the appearance of a legitimate income stream.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks!

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#48

Post by azinman2 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #40
ellard wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate?

> Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate? Beth has dirty money. Bob, a friend of Beth’s, “rents” her car. (There is no car. Maybe Bob pays Beth over Turo and then Beth gives Bob the dirty cash.) Beth now has the appearance of legitimate income.

But Bob will have to deposit this dirty cash at some point. With enough cash, it’ll raise alarm bells unless Beth has A LOT of friends who can deposit $600 each.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#49

Post by systemvoltage »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #40
ellard wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate?

> Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate? Beth has dirty money. Bob, a friend of Beth’s, “rents” her car. (There is no car. Maybe Bob pays Beth over Turo and then Beth gives Bob the dirty cash.) Beth now has the appearance of legitimate income.

Still not detailed enough and doesn't make any sense.

Does Beth have cash? Is it in a bank account? You can't use cash on Turo from what I understand. If money is in bank account, it won't be "dirty". So, how can Beth pay for a rental on Turo?

As someone already commented, there is nothing special about Turo, you could just set up an ecommerce store and ship rocks around.

Can you please expand?

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#50

Post by ellard »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #40
ellard wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate?

> Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I don't understand the scenario you're describing. Could you elaborate? Beth has dirty money. Bob, a friend of Beth’s, “rents” her car. (There is no car. Maybe Bob pays Beth over Turo and then Beth gives Bob the dirty cash.) Beth now has the appearance of legitimate income.

Yep makes sense. Thanks!
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