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Biggest Identity Thief Ever Gets Put Away
Anonymous Brave Guy writes "Apparently computer helpdesk employee Philip Cummings had more than just a day job: he's just gone down for 14 years in the biggest identity theft case ever. Lots of fascinating nuggets of information in that story: apparently fake ID goes for as little as $60, and the total stolen over just a couple of years was somewhere in the $50m-100m range."
What I want to know is, when they caught the guy, did they have a positive ID?
Be relentless!
HE's not Philip Cummings!
I AM!!!
Yup, and that's how it is supposed to work. The onus is on the merchant to ensure that the person using the credit card is, in fat, authorized to use it.
The credit card is a token, a symbol to show that a given issuer is extending you credit, and will pay the merchant on demand. It is not the credit itself.
Far too many merchants do not check signatures and/or ask for identification.. and that's fine, because it's their gamble, not mine.
You can generally contest any payment made on your credit card, and the merchant will have to demonstrate that you authorized the transaction, or he's out of luck. Barring a signature, or stuff shipped to your address, or perhaps video evidence, there isn't much they can do.