Demonstrators at a rally in Washington, DC, hold placards protesting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). A close watch on ISIS prompted an alert at a US bank over a client who had a dog named ‘Dash,’ which sounded like ‘Daesh,’ the Arabic acronym for ISIS. AFP FILE
LOS ANGELES, United States — A dog whose name “Dash” sounded too much like the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group that it prompted a security scare at a California bank.
The alarm was raised after Dash’s owner Bruce Francis, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and lives in San Francisco, tried to make an online payment to the person who walks his pitbull mix.
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Francis wrote “Dash” in the memo line for the check, panicking officials at Chase Bank who mistook it for “Daesh” and canceled the payment, local news reports said.
The bank also flagged the payment to the US Treasury Department which sent a note to Francis asking him to “explain what Dash means.”
“I thought to myself, ‘great, they’re stopping the world’s stupidest terrorist,” Francis told the local KTVU station after the incident earlier this month.
In spite of the mix-up, Francis said he was taking the incident in his stride and didn’t mind the inconvenience.
His check for walking “Dash” has since been approved.