I hold an active TS/SCI for my job and assume I’m in Continuous Evaluation. I have been tracking a strategy that takes advantage of online social casino offers that lead to a mathematical edge.
The problem being you use your credit card to purchase, then play your credits and withdraw. After a few days you get the bank deposit and can pay off your card. Your credit utilization will spike as you continually do this because credit bureaus report constantly and at different times.
I’m assuming that opening up some credit cards and getting high limits and then utilizing them with gambling statements will set off a trillion alarm bells. Is there a way to explain this beforehand and not get your clearance stripped? There will be an associated spreadsheet that tracks everything to ensure I pay correct taxes on my winnings.
P.S.
I’m sure responses will say why bother, but I didn’t invent this. When you see plenty of others making large amounts of extra income, completely legally, it’s disappointing to miss out because regular gambling degenerates are a clearance concern.
Is your only concern about your credit usage? I know many people who keep high credit card balances for a variety of reasons that still have a clearance with no issues. Just don’t default on your debts and you should be fine. Also, make sure you are reporting your income properly with the IRS.
You may be asked to explain some transactions but as long as no laws are broken, all income is reported to the IRS, and you do not become delinquent on any debt due to gambling you should be okay. Gambling becomes an issue when people can’t pay their obligations due to a gambling habit or when winnings are not correctly reported to the IRS. If you have delinquent debts and are gambling away your income then judgment and responsibility come into question.
Like you said those two things that can be concerns depending on the context, but in this case if I’m responsible shouldn’t be a problem. The main concern I have is with the following adjudicative guidelines:
Guideline F Financial Considerations
(h) borrowing money or engaging in significant financial transactions to fund gambling or pay gambling debts; and
In that article it mentions multiple times that there are creditors that have to be repaid, meaning the person has an addiction to gambling and is not fulfilling their obligations to all debts, not just credit cards. From what your original post is claiming, this isn’t an issue for you.
Security is always a good step, but they may tell you to just stay away from the activity altogether as you are already questioning yourself. You may also have to ask yourself is if the money is worth the fight. Are you actually consistently making “large amounts of money” or are you operating at a net loss? Even if you were at a net loss, as long as you fulfill all of your obligations then I wouldn’t consider that a “gambling degenerate” as you mention.