One of the reasons why identity thieves are the luckiest criminals alive is because credit card companies make their crime really easy. This person at Cockeyed.com tried an experiment. He tore up his credit card application into little pieces, meticulously taped it back up, and then filled it out as follows:
Now, I wasn’t going to be able to check my mailbox for a few weeks, so I marked this little checkbox and CHANGED MY ADDRESS to my parent’s address, who are blessed with a very secure mailbox.
I wanted the BRAND NEW CARD to go to a DIFFERENT ADDRESS.
Also, I used my CELL PHONE NUMBER on the application. I’m not always at home, so I didn’t want to have to call from my real home to authorize the card.
The result? A shiny new credit card was sent to his parent’s address.
Check out the full story here.
It is amazing how irresponsible credit card companies can be.
Hat tip: Ann Bartow. Chris Hoofnagle has more ridiculous credit card application stories.
Related Posts
1. Solove, Free Credit Reports: My Exciting Adventure (Concurring Opinions) (October 2005)
2. Solove, Public Records and Identity Theft (Concurring Opinions) (March 2006)
3. Solove, Identity Theft: Increasingly an Affliction of the Young (Concurring Opinions) (January 2006)
4. Solove, Youngest ID Theft Victim? (PrawfsBlawg) (July 2005)
5. Solove, Why Identity Theft Isn’t Pretty (PrawfsBlawg) (July 2005)
6. Solove, Identity Theft Fears and Online Shopping (PrawfsBlawg) (June 2005)
7. Solove, Identity Thief Professors (PrawfsBlawg) (June 2005)
Originally Posted at Concurring Opinions
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This post was authored by Professor Daniel J. Solove, who through TeachPrivacy develops computer-based privacy training, data security training, HIPAA training, and many other forms of awareness training on privacy and security topics. Professor Solove also posts at his blog at LinkedIn. His blog has more than 1 million followers.
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