Comment by cobbzilla
6 years ago
Could you buy pre-paid credit cards with cash? then use a different one each month/week/day depending on your level of concern?
6 years ago
Could you buy pre-paid credit cards with cash? then use a different one each month/week/day depending on your level of concern?
Pre paid cards need to be registered before you can use them, so they have all the same details as just using your cc. Faking these details is fraud.
While it may technically be fraud, the registration information for non-reloadable cards is only a name and address, which is not verified. If the processor uses an AVS check (in the US, this is usually just the ZIP code), then whatever you enter must match what you registered with, but that could be... whatever.
When one considers how fat the deck is stacked against individual consumers in today's market, I would be inclined to tolerate some Thoreau-style civil disobedience on this. The desire for privacy -- to effectively "use cash" at "cashless" establishments -- may require the need to engage in this activity.
The other question would be, who is being damaged by this fraud? Presumably the seller of the card (and banks/processors in between), who would like to link all your card purchases to some master profile. Well, I wouldn't begrudge anyone with disobedience on that one too. They're still collecting fees on every purchase.