On Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 03:30:12PM +0100, Michele Neylon :: Blacknight wrote:
> > I must say, I would think twice before sending anyone - even An
> > Taoiseach - a FAX of my credit card.
>>> Tim
>> You have to compromise
>> Most companies that ask for faxes of credit cards are doing it to make sure
> that a real person exists behind the email address and that person actually
> owns the card and not just the cards details
That's not a compromise, that is placing ordinary people at huge
increased risk to identity and monetary theft - merely for the
convenience of the business. Frankly - it's a pretty dumb thing to do,
and it's wise to give businesses which ask for it a wide berth.
It's also ineffective, it's not diffucult to counterfeit a fax-quality
representation of a credit card. A better compromise solution is for
businesses to sign up to the extended-verification programs Credit Card
providers offer (Visa, Mastercard and Amex offer these via Irish banks -
I use Visa with AIB for this).
--
Colm MacCárthaigh Public Key: colm+pgp at stdlib.net
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