First off you don't want my identity. I don't even want my identity. Never mind the fact that I owe so much in student loans that I'm seriously considering faking my own death to get out of them. I'm on the Your Children Will Be Paying These Off Plan. I'm also kind of a boring person so the second you charge the jet ski rental in the Bahamas the bank is going to be alerted. I've already gotten calls the previous two times my card number was stolen. They were just short of "There's no way in hell you did something that awesome." If you want to spend $5834.12 in tacos and comics then you might consider my identity.
My problem with credit cards these days is that no one seems to ask for identification or even a signature. I've heard varying amounts that the purchase has to be over before they bother to check. $25 all the way up to $50. Nearly 10 million people were hit by some form of identity theft last year. Why would businesses make it easier to allow people to use a stolen credit card? If you use a credit card on a regular basis think about your weekly purchases. How many times did someone even glance up at you when you swiped it through? Now think about how fast you could max out your card just with little purchases. I'd say it wouldn't take more than a few days. If you're thinking like a thief you may start off slow, hoping you don't get noticed and then just running for the finish as you figure someone has to be looking at their statement soon. If you're not thinking at all, you might just go crazy and buy everything on the left side of the menu at Morton's Steakhouse.
So why are more and more businesses going the route of next to no security when it comes to credit cards? Is it a matter of convenience for the customer? Is our world so fast paced that a person can't be bothered to show an ID or sign a receipt saying you approve the charge? That would have been like handing someone a blank check and just assuming they'd fill out the correct amount for you. Maybe it's just assumed that the bank or credit card company has a system to deal with it. Some banks are better than others, but no matter how good you're going to be looking at 5-7 days before a replacement card comes in and possibly several weeks before they fully refund the charges. Is that a worthwhile trade off for the 7.3 seconds you save by not having to sign your credit card receipt?
If you weren't scared before, you just haven't been paying attention.
