Say hypothetically a really rich billionaire wants to donate/invest a lot of money to/in you what would be the best non crypto option to get that money since PayPal most bank accounts for that matter would stop and question you on it and probably wouldn’t believe it’s a donation?
Hypothetically: Banks don’t generally scrutinize the source of the money or why it’s being transferred. If the funds exist in the account, they just make the transaction. Also it’s on the gift giver to pay any applicable taxes.
In real life: Scammers posing as a billionaire are infinitely more likely to contact you than a real one. The scammers will depend on you thinking a normal bank transaction won’t work so you can jump through some hoops that will inevitably have you paying them real money instead.
In the USA banks most definitely scrutinize the source of money and why it’s being transferred.
Emphasis on “generally” in my statement. Of course there are exceptions where they would, but if I had a multi-million dollar check from Warren Buffett for replacing a few light bulbs in his house, the bank isn’t going to call him and make sure that’s a reasonable price or anything.
The general rule is anything over 10,000 gets flagged and investigated if there’s additional suspicious activity. Same as when there are multiple deposits just under 10,000
Emphasis on this part. Either way, what you’re describing is generally for tax purposes. Going back to the original question of the thread, if I had billions of dollars and wrote a stranger a check, the bank is highly unlikely to make sure I meant it. At most they may report it to the government to make sure I pay gift taxes (which are paid by the giver, not the recipient, and even they apply far above $10,000 but you still need to report it at that level)