On Monday, August 15, 2005 2:39 PM Marc Sims typed;
Why when you go to Circuit City or BestBuy do they ask you for your Zip
code or
phone number when they have it displayed right their on the CRT? Are they
blind,
incompetent or just plain lazy to see it for themselves?
They don't have your info on the screen when you walk up so they need some
info to search the database with & stating that they are incompetent or
lazy is just be agitating.
At 08:29 AM 8/16/2005, Chuck Andrews typed:
Radio Shack asks me similar questions.
Usually they ask for your phone # which most people have publicly listed
anyway.
I am trying to remember how they know who I am in order to pull up my
information on their computer.
They take public info such as your phone # tied into the same database that
has your more personal info in otherwise they'd have to ask your mother's
maiden name or shoe size in front of strangers.
If you are using a credit card they should cross examine you with
questions that only the owner of the credit card would know the answer to.
Not just to call up your record on their database. Maybe they shined the
bright spot light on your face & turned up the heat when they initially
retrieved that personal info but I sincerely doubt it.
After all, you are standing face to face with the clerk and nobody
compares signatures anymore. The truth of the matter is very few compared
signatures in the beginning when they first appeared on the back of
credit cards.
If the clerk knows you then why should they?
My point here is there are many ways they can stop the majority of
identity theft.
The most common way use to be they went thru your trash & got CC offers
that had been sent to your house then they would apply in your name but
change the address to something they like.
I can not imagine any reputable lending institution opening up a credit
card account or setting up a home mortgage without the applicant being
required to provide far more information than an identity thief would have.
A home mortgage is one thing & a CC is completely different altho these
days the lines are getting somewhat blurred with home equity loans. I had
Bank of America send me a CC that I never asked for & when I called to
complain they said I said "ok" on the phone. That could've been anyone
saying ok & I cancelled the card before it ever got activated.
It could be as simple as this. Credit card company calls your employer who
is asked to ask you if you applied for the credit (no amount or details,
of course).
I could always say that I'm self employed to get around that.
If you answer "No" the credit card company simply calls the applicant to
come in to sign some papers. Once the identity thief arrives the police
are waiting on them. If the true owner of the Social Security Number
arrives, the police investigate and then release them and write it off as
a false alarm. Best to be safe than sorry.
You've got to be kidding me.
Identity theft is a preventable occurrence, just as a drunk driving
collision is preventable.
How is that when I don't drink? What prevents a drunk from running into me
other than I hope to have all my wits about me when I'm driving? This is
way off topic so please don't answer on list.
Few lending institutions want to give attention to detail. After all,
who wants to deal with a lender who makes you jump through hoops when the
lender down the street streamlines the application process?
Just like the person who'se doctor told them there was nothing wrong with
them that diet & exercise wouldn't cure so the person went & got a new
doctor. People want things to be simple & are willing to take a certain
amount of risks. I bank & pay bills online because it's so much faster &
the bank guarantees my transactions & account to be safe. Sure I take a
certain amount of risk as I stated earlier a charge did happen to get thru
but I contested it & I'll receive a credit for it shortly so I'm not
worried. If you want to stay up nites worrying about such things then feel
free to do so but that doesn't mean the rest of us should.
I think we've about exhausted this thread. HINT !
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