June, 2007

J.P.'s CORNER

I recently have heard some real horror stories from our P.A.C.E. members. As one who travels extensively and frequently, I can tell you that I am stunned at the number of scams, frauds, and identity thefts that I am seeing and hearing about.

CURRENT BIG SCAM NUMBER ONE:

A real big new one now is a clerk telling you that    "I need to have your driver's license" to verify your identity when making a credit card purchase - even for very small amounts. These clerks are low paid to begin with and may not even be aware that they are being involved in perpetrating a fraud.

What they do is take your license - and if not too sophisticated - disappear and photocopy it. (This happened to PACER Nina in April.) However, the swift ones have a little device under the counter that is actually a scanner where they can quickly electronically scan and record an image of your license. They, the business managers/owners, take your guess, sell this information to professional "harvesters" who re-sell it to gangs of identity theft specialists. These gangs are so sophisticated that they actually build bases around your data and can actually recruit other gang members who fit your image! Lets face it, drivers license photos aren't that good to begin with and people's looks can change drastically over the years.

With all this information, they may be able to impersonate you and commit some MAJOR FRAUD such as getting loans, mortgages, etc.! This has even been on NBC and in various major media exposes. What they don't stress in these is that your diver’s license is the key to major fraud. Some people even have their social security numbers on their licenses.  This is a big no-no! This is NOT required by law. Also, not required by any law, is for you to give your license to anyone but a proper law enforcement or government official - certainly not a minimum wage store clerk. You may show the license to them - preferably in an encased wallet - that you FIRMLY retain. They can then see that you are who you say you are without taking physical possession of the license.

SCAM NUMBER TWO:

This just personally happened to me at a reputable Michigan Avenue establishment whom I do not believe knew of nor condoned what their clerk did. I cashed a check for $100 where the figure was written as such and the amount written out as "The sum of one-hundred and no/100's dollars". The clerk altered the $100 figure to $400 dollars, pocketed the difference, and unbelievably the check cleared the Federal Reseve and my bank for $400 with out any one catching the descrepancy between the altered figure and the written amount - even though legally the written out amount takes precendance. When my bank balnce was off $300 I caught this. I got the money back only after a very lengthly process that I would not want to go through again. So the motto of this little story is - reconcile and carefully check your bank statements (AND credit card ones too) versus your checks and receipts!

FEEDBACK:

From PACER Peter:
CLICK HERE FOR IDENTITY FRAUD STORY!

SCAM NUMBER THREE:

An oldie but goodie is the "no you didn't give me a twenty you gave me a ten" scam played often on Rush Street (including one of its most popular restaurants) and Michigan Avenue.  In most cases though, amazingly, the customer won't even challenge the ripoff to be met with the above response from the clerk.

Here is what I do and so far it has always worked. I memorize the last four digits (sometimes more) of the large bill I tender.

When challenged by a clerk with their "no you didn't give me a twenty you gave me a ten" line - I ask to see a manager. When such individual appears, I ask them if they believe in ESP or clairvoyance. Their reply of course is in the negative. Then I ask them to explain how it is then I could know the last numbers of the twenty in the register - unless - I gave them that bill and memorized the serial number. The manager and clerk always seem dumb founded and sheepish - but I always get my correct $20 change back!

FEEDBACK:

PACER PJ reports in that her friend always loudly calls out what denomination she is passing to a clerk.

J.P. Camden