Do you have 'See ID' written on the back of your credit card, or know someone who does? I used to, until I had an unpleasant run-in at the post office because of it. Turns out that the idea that it's safer to write 'See ID' on the back of your credit card rather than sign it
is just a weird hoax that's floating around. (I used to have this blurb about my experience at the post office on my LiveJournal account, which has now become defunct. I've moved it over here so that it'll have a more permanent home, and because I keep getting comments from people who have had the same experience).
Comments
If you read: http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html?it=Search
it tells you their policy on the "see id"
and if you read on or search for "identity theft tips", they offer no help but to make sure you don't give out your information and read your credit card statements every month.
Probably because your credit card is not valid unless you sign it. It states so right there on the card. By signing the card you are showing that you received the card and accept the terms of use. An invalid card is not an acceptable form of payment, though many merchants don't even look.
Please read the story at the Denver Post at
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6787955?source=rss
Given the ease of illegal immigrants to obtain government ID, I'm not surprised that a criminal could get a forged one as well:
One of the Q&A is this:
Q: Why isn't "See ID" on my credit card signature line sufficient to prevent fraud?
A: Experts say phony photo IDs, even government-issued ones, are the easiest and most prevalently reproduced. Not having a signature on your card allows crooks to create their own version and use a photo ID to back it up.
http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html
Suppose I work at a Starbucks or Barnes and Noble and I want to steal your identity. You show me a credit card. I now have your name, credit card number, and expiration date. But that's it. I don't have anything else. Now, if you show me your ID I get your address, city, state, zip code, driver license number, and birthday. That is MUCH more information than you had to give me to complete the transaction. Why would you give me so much information?
Federal law limits your fraud liability as a credit card holder to $50 for this card, but this is only if the fraud involves the card itself, not the number. Liability for fraud involving only the number is $0. Let me be more clear: If they have your card you are liable for no more than $50; if they don't have your card you are liable for nothing.
If you are liable for a maximum of $50, does that mean you are giving up all the additional information to avoid paying that $50? Is your personal information worth only $50? Is giving hundreds of strangers this information worth that $50?
Let's suppose I want to steal your identity. You can argue that I don't have your social security number...but that's ALL I don't have. I know the address for your mail. I'm sure I can find more information in there to fill in some of the blanks. In fact, all I needed to order something from Amazon.com or any other online site is your credit card number, expiration date, CSV code, and the numeric portion of your address (the house number) and maybe your zip code. That's it. Now I can use your card. Of course, if I charge it up you are still not liable for the charges because you still have your card. I could create my own card by programming the magnetic strip with your information and then all I need is your zip code to charge up some gas. Again, you are not liable for those charges.
So if you are not liable for anything, why would you want to give strangers so much personal information when VISA/Mastercard require them to honor your card even if you don't show ID?
I had my main credit card printed with my first initial, last name. That's it. When I hand it to a minimum wage employee at Ralph's I don't have to worry that they got any more information than they needed. Hell, they don't even know my first name; they don't need it.
And sorry, Sarah from Texas, but I would never assume that a government agency knows squat about what's best for consumers.
And how tough is it to have a fake i.d. made up that matches the name on a stolen card? Much easier than forging a signature.
Of course this "security feature" is rendered null by merchants who never bother to check (and aren't required to by the card providers), but the threat that a merchant might check is going to make those SEE ID cards less likely to be used.
As for a signature on the card being the acceptance of the agreement, yes, that is how it works, but it's also incredibly stupid. Why is signing the card the evidence necessary to accept the agreement? If I'm activating the card, isn't that good enough? What about my signature on the application I sent you? What about digital signatures? There plenty of ways to acknowledge a contract than by signing a highly sensitive and woefully insecure piece of plastic, thereby making it even more insecure. Seriously, if I can sign my tax returns with a "digital signature," why can't the credit card provider find a way to accept something similar? Credit card providers hold people's financial lives in their hands (and data records) and consistently manage to shock me with their inability to understand even the most basic concepts of data security. They're dealing with millions of data breaches every year costing incalculable losses for both the card holders and the card providers, and they're going to get snippy about whether I sign my frickin card? Give me a break...
1 very easy scenario:
Thief gathers card numbers with a swipe machine (easy to get, they even come built into keyboards). They swipe your card, they take their own card, and put your card number on the magnetic strip (very easy in seconds). They walk over to a store with their own card, and show their own ID. But wait, the cashier only checks thier ID which is a perfect match (in this case even the signature will match fine). Lowe's new policy started about a year ago is perfect and does not require any additional ID. Verify the last four digits of the physical card with the account number read by the magnetic stripe. Voila, a thief is found as the magnetic strip is altered from the printed numbers.
Also, the notion that requiring a photo ID makes it difficult is nonsense. Anyone with a printer in their car can alter a premade ID in minutes that will pass an unsuspecting cashier without a second thought.
Finally, since I am covered by the credit card company, I don't care if someone tries to buy things with my card. I have had to use this service twice now, and others in my family about 5 additional times. The bank put the money back in my account while I was on the phone, issued me a new card, and confirmed the fraud and closed the issue within a week.
I am MUCH more conerned with a rougue cashier gathering information from my license and stealing my identity instead of my credit card. All I need to do to take care of credit card theft is make a phone call. To repair ID theft takes years of work, and possibile inability to get car loans, etc in the mean time. My brother had his identity stolen.
The bottom line is what is your priority? Do you want to protect your card which the bank protects you on, or your identity which almost no one will help you repair unless you pey them big bucks?
Yes, it's plausible, but unrealistic.
"Thief gathers card numbers with a swipe machine (easy to get, they even come built into keyboards). They swipe your card, they take their own card, and put your card number on the magnetic strip (very easy in seconds). They walk over to a store with their own card, and show their own ID. But wait, the cashier only checks thier ID which is a perfect match"
What does this have to do with writing "See ID"? If a thief copies your credit card, than it doesn't matter what was on the back of the card. What matters is if you challenge the charge, and the credit card requests a copy of the signature from the merchant, if that signature matches yours.
Guess how a thief can learn how to sign the way you sign?