You are not a cop, you don't need to see my ID!

[Auto]

Hold on a second.

It's VISA/MC who are left holding the bag if someone fraudulently uses my credit card, not me and not the merchant.

I hate when someone tells me that it's for my own protection. Huh? If my statement shows charges I didn't make, I call the CC company to dispute the charges. Problem solved.

I don't EVER show my ID when I use my CC. NEVER. Once you've been the victim of identity theft, you get very protective about giving out personal info that has absolutely no bearing on the transaction being conducted. Someone who somehow manages to record the info off my DL is in position to do far more damage to me than a scammer using my stolen CC.

You are protected if your CC is stolen and used. You're on your own trying to fix having someone steal your identity and go on a crime spree.

"It's for my own protection" -- yeah, right.

[aurelemsrealm]

I've gotten to the point with some that never seem happy with the service at my store that I just flat out tell them to go elsewhere if they don't like the service here. Maybe I should point out to those same few malcontents, "Well the other customers seem to be happy with my service! What's your problem, jerk?" LOL! A little bit of turnabout is fair play.

[greensinestro]

I don't EVER show my ID when I use my CC.

You are protected if your CC is stolen and used. You're on your own trying to fix having someone steal your identity and go on a crime spree.

"It's for my own protection" -- yeah, right.

A lot of debate certainly will go into this post. I earlier talked about a man at Sears who did not have his actual card on him, yet he had the card number memorized. He gave the number, and the clerk did not ask for positive ID. A few of us standing in line were literally horrified that it seemed so easy to use a card that may belong to someone else.

As for being protected, not sure about that one either. Credit card companies are at times reluctant to fix this being they get so many people who make large purchases, then scheme the credit card company into believing they were fraud victims because they want to get their expensive item for free. One time, I had a hotel reservation that I canceled in plenty of time, yet I was still charged $49 for a night I did not spend there. It took three months to get it off my bill, and nobody there seemed like they wanted to handle this problem.

I can't say I know what being a victim of ID theft is like though, so I guess until that happens, I would have no idea how to react to some of these statements.

[powerboy]

I will not understand why, people get upset about showing ID. I always have mine ready, and I just use debit. I always ask to see ID everytime someone uses plastic. Hell as far as I know, that card could be stolen, and I will be damned if it come back down to me. I do know how it feels to be the victim of identity theift. So that is why I always have my ID ready

[MoonChild2007]

Hold on a second.

It's VISA/MC who are left holding the bag if someone fraudulently uses my credit card, not me and not the merchant.

I hate when someone tells me that it's for my own protection. Huh? If my statement shows charges I didn't make, I call the CC company to dispute the charges. Problem solved.

I don't EVER show my ID when I use my CC. NEVER. Once you've been the victim of identity theft, you get very protective about giving out personal info that has absolutely no bearing on the transaction being conducted. Someone who somehow manages to record the info off my DL is in position to do far more damage to me than a scammer using my stolen CC.

You are protected if your CC is stolen and used. You're on your own trying to fix having someone steal your identity and go on a crime spree.

"It's for my own protection" -- yeah, right.

I lost my debit/credit card and my account was charged $80, i fixed the problem but its not about fixing the problem, its about having somebody use my card that is not theirs!

I don't EVER show my ID when I use my CC. NEVER

You wouldn't get away with that easy with me. If you charged $ 1,000 on your credit card, you wouldn't give me your id because you are afraid of identity theft?
Oh what if you had a bank account somewhere and you want like 2,000. I ask you for your id, what are you going to do? Say no?

Someone who somehow manages to record the info off my DL is in position to do far more damage to me than a scammer using my stolen CC.

What about banks? What about the police? What about ordering a room?

However, I can understand if somebody called you wanting your dl number. That's a scam in itself. But sometimes professional establishments need your dLs to ID you.

It's VISA/MC who are left holding the bag if someone fraudulently uses my credit card, not me and not the merchant.

As a person who worked at a merchant, they will have to deal with a chargeback and the associate is in trouble! its no different than me cashing a check for a fake customer and having it comeback. I will have to deal with the difference. Sorry but unless you work for a company that sells credit cards, you don't understand that the company has to take the chargeback.

[Reyneth]

Someone who somehow manages to record the info off my DL is in position to do far more damage to me than a scammer using my stolen CC.

I'm willing to bet 95% of the people out there that ask for ID see it for no more than the length of time it takes to register the photo matches you, the name on the ID matches the name on the CC and the signatures are close. Ok, I've glanced at the odd dob to see how old the fabulous little elderly lady was (92!) but that was it. And 99% of the rest people that see it for longer than those oh, 30 seconds, have as little interest in your actual DL number than the rest of us.

Do you not show ID if you're carded when buying alcohol?

You are protected if your CC is stolen and used. You're on your own trying to fix having someone steal your identity and go on a crime spree.

"It's for my own protection" -- yeah, right.

You're only protected if your cc company catches the fraud and is willing to treat it as fraud and work to get all of the charges reversed. They aren't always that willing to do it, requiring tons of work on your part.

It IS for your protection.
It certainly protected one dude years ago when a guy was acting shady about a purchase and then the card didn't scan so would have to be keyed in (it was a dummy card made up with someone's number and name but no magnetic strip) and I refused to run it that way or another card with that same name on it especially since he wouldn't show ID. Police showed up in the store about 2 days later, had expected he would have hit us since he hit another camera store - my store was one of the few that had refused to manually do the card without ID. If the other stores had done the same - $75,000 or so worth of merch wouldn't have been scammed from them. It was obviously cc fraud and the cc owner had charges reversed, but it involved the police, it took a good chunk of time, not to mention piece of mind for him.

[Pagan]

Someone who somehow manages to record the info off my DL is in position to do far more damage to me than a scammer using my stolen CC.

I'm willing to bet 95% of the people out there that ask for ID see it for no more than the length of time it takes to register the photo matches you, the name on the ID matches the name on the CC and the signatures are close. Ok, I've glanced at the odd dob to see how old the fabulous little elderly lady was (92!) but that was it. And 99% of the rest people that see it for longer than those oh, 30 seconds, have as little interest in your actual DL number than the rest of us.

I have to agree with Reyneth. Never have I ever been able to memorize someone's DL# just by checking their ID. That's not what I'm looking at it for. Hell, I don't even know my DL# off the top of my head!

[Reyneth]

I wanted to add to Auto - you can do what you want re: your ID and stuff, but stores and employees are using logic to try and protect you from their standpoint. And sometimes the sales associate will have no choice due to store policy or such - no ID, no sale. Losing their job because of your beliefs re:not showing ID shouldn't ever become an issue. It's your life and live it they way you chose and you have obviously thought through your decisions and your stand on the issue. But SCs that are just being SCs could ruin that for you, kwim?

[CSR Kim]

I have asked to see countless numbers of ID's at my job (Not signed? Can't read the signature? Says "See ID"? I'm going to ask, whether you like it or not.) In order for me to remember anything off a particular one, I'd have to stop what I was doing and write the info down, all the while looking at the ID. I would seriously hope that if someone was doing that, that the customer would say, "Hey, why are you writing down my information?" I mean, really. If it was me as the customer, I'd be damn suspicious if that happened!

[Luna]

I've had people refuse to show me ID after using a CC that had "see ID" written on the back of the card. This happened quite a few times at old jobs. Guess what. I voided the sale and handed them the card back.

If you're going to write that on your card - have your ID with you.

Music store hell had LOTS of problems with CC fraud. There was a chain that the feds were trying to bust that was hitting stores up and down the entire east coast. They made fake CCs, with a real account number - someone else's. But the magnetic strip didn't work b/c I guess they didn't have the technology to do that.

I got so bad that we were instructed to ask for ID for any sale over $50 and refuse any sale with a CC that wouldn't swipe. The thieves got smart. They'd come in, buy something for ten bucks. The cashier - following policy would manually key the card and make an old fashioned imprint. Then the thief would go back want want to buy 2 iPods or a couple hundred dollars worth of gift cards. The cashier would call the manager up - who would process the sale, and when the CC didn't swipe would turn the sale down - and the thief ring would start to scream discrimination for being (black/hispanic/asian...there were a lot of people in this ring!) since they had already used the card successfully at the store and had the $10 receipt to prove it. At this point many managers caved and were scared and took the sale.

Then they were written up by corporate for taking the sale. Yes, written up. Despite following corporate policy, and even though sales audit emailed back with a charge back claim from the REAL customer whose account number had been stolen. So the store loses out of the product - never to be recovered AND they then have to pay back the real customer for the fraud. So if your store was hit for $1000, it actually cost you $2000.

Just some explanation on the managerial side of things with CCs and policies. I am so glad I am out of that realm of retail.

[Rolling Star]

Hm...I wonder if that guy was trying to use a stolen card.

[Kogarashi]

I, too, don't think it's all that hard to flip out my ID and show it to the cashiers when they ask. For one thing, I keep an eye on them, so if I find them staring at the ID for longer than it takes to match name and face to the CC and me, I can distract them with small talk (let's see them remember my DL# then). And frankly, I'm more worried about the types of identity theft that could be done with my CC, my usernames and passwords for various online sites, and my SSN, which is nowhere near my wallet. Cashiers have so much to do during the day that it would take a real doozy of an identity thief to pick my ID out of the 100+ customers they have during the day and memorize all the details necessary.

Which now makes me wonder what sort of ID theft Auto was victim to that got him so defensive about his ID.

[powerboy]

When I check the ID's on CC sales, it just takes about 5 seconds for me to look at the name on both the ID & CC, to see if they match. I never had a problem at my job now. But I did have one when I was working OFFICE MAX. I cannot help it, if I wanted to make sure he didn't get identity theft. Now if they didn't want to show an ID, I would void out the sell. Again, I am not going to have that crap come back to me, if it was stolen.

[Starlord]

After my wife was the victim of identity theft, we were advised to put See photo ID where the signature would go.
One time, I wrote a check at a store, and the clerk asked for my check card. When I produced it, she said it wasn't signed. when I signed it, she picked up the check I had just written in front of her and held it up alongside the card and compared signatures. Satisfied they matched, she completed the purchase.

[Auto]

I'm willing to bet 95% of the people out there that ask for ID see it for no more than the length of time it takes to register the photo matches you, the name on the ID matches the name on the CC and the signatures are close. Ok, I've glanced at the odd dob to see how old the fabulous little elderly lady was (92!) but that was it. And 99% of the rest people that see it for longer than those oh, 30 seconds, have as little interest in your actual DL number than the rest of us.

Do you not show ID if you're carded when buying alcohol?



You're only protected if your cc company catches the fraud and is willing to treat it as fraud and work to get all of the charges reversed. They aren't always that willing to do it, requiring tons of work on your part.

It IS for your protection.
It certainly protected one dude years ago when a guy was acting shady about a purchase and then the card didn't scan so would have to be keyed in (it was a dummy card made up with someone's number and name but no magnetic strip) and I refused to run it that way or another card with that same name on it especially since he wouldn't show ID. Police showed up in the store about 2 days later, had expected he would have hit us since he hit another camera store - my store was one of the few that had refused to manually do the card without ID. If the other stores had done the same - $75,000 or so worth of merch wouldn't have been scammed from them. It was obviously cc fraud and the cc owner had charges reversed, but it involved the police, it took a good chunk of time, not to mention piece of mind for him.

I have a common name that made ID theft relatively easy. It took years of effort and not before I paid thousands of dollar in legal fees did I manage to undo the damage to my credit rating. And I'm still nervous when someone runs a credit check on me.

Yeah, I know that the clerk looks at my DL for maybe 3 seconds is unlikely to be working an ID theft scam. I also know that it's unlikely someone's going to steal my car in the supermarket parking lot -- but I still lock my car. Just as I lock my front door when I leave the house.

My mindset is that if you're asking for info that you have no legally-required reason to know, then you can do without that info. Sure, it's more convenient for the store to have the info, but I'm not interested in making things convenient for, say, Best Buy. Not when they're utterly unhelpful when it comes to helping me when I have a problem resolving just who it was who impersonated me in applying for credit.

Reyneth's wrong about my liability if someone fraudulently uses my credit card. My maximum liability is $50 and in about 99.999% of cases, the CC company waives that.

Sure, if there's a $75,000 charge that's in dispute, the cops and the CC company are going to investigate and ask lots of questions and all the rest. But no matter how careless I was in not protecting my card, I'm still not liable for its misuse. Your story about what happened to that scammer confirms my point. The guy who disputed the $75,000 charge on his card walked away.

And the store would have no liability if the clerk made sure that the signature on the card matched the signature on the charge slip.

Credit cards are not cash in the sum of whatever the card's credit limit is. That's why they're safer than carrying cash. I lose my wallet and the cash's gone. But if one of my credit cards has a $30,000 credit limit, it's not that I have to worry that someone might use that card to its max and that I'm the one who has to make good.

I have nothing to worry about. All I have to do is report the card lost or stolen and if someone tried to use it, well, that's VISA/MC's problem. Yeah, they'll ask me lots of questions -- and then they'll issue me a replacement card.

Problem solved.

But if someone steals your identity and uses it to open credit card accounts, your problems are just beginning.