I'm currently in South Korea and over here they have quite a neat system that makes sense.

Basically every time a charge is run through your credit card you get an SMS sent to your cell phone.

So if you get the SMS you call back instantly and they can cancel the charge or contact the vendor.

It gives the consumer confidence that no one is accessing their card, can be implemented over the internet and isn't too intrusive (ie - an sms is not hard to delete)

And also if you're married it gives you a way to monitor your wife's spending as it happens. haha

There's stories here of it helping to actually catch people being fraudulent. So someone is using a card illegally, the real person gets an SMS, calls Visa or whoever who then phones the shop and they catch the guy. Don't know what a shop keeper does but surely the theif would be pretty embarrased

A lot of American credit card companies have this service too, like Chase. Unfortunately, the cost of SMS messages on some cell phone plans makes it an impossibility to use (I'm looking at you, Sprint).

Personally, I make it a habit to check the activity on my credit card/SO's credit card/and our bank accounts on an almost daily basis.

It is in your card holder agreement and seeing as how I do not know what cards you have I can not link you to their web sites. You want quotes I suggest you pull them out and read them word for word.

And pardon the P&S out of me for attempting to care and save someone unjust grief.

As someone who has been a victim of credit card fraud and identity theft I would like to maintain the DELUSION that I know what I am talking about since I have been there done that got the t-shirt then sold it at a garage sale. Not to mention I work in the field and deal with this on a regular basis!

I'm sorry, it's not the job of the person questioning information to prove your case for you.

Since I'm feeling investigative, however, I went ahead and did research to prove MY point. I have credit through Mastercard (my bank), Visa, and I called customer service for American Express, as well, just to round it out to 3 sources.

All three persons I spoke to said that the signature is a security measure only, for the merchant, and is used to identify you as the cardholder. Along with proper ID, it doesn't matter what you sign on the paper or electronic device- it's up to the merchant to either accept it or not. While technically against the rules, they say, the rule is there simply for the protection of the merchant, to verify identity without having to submit an ID card. I also asked if it constituted fraud, and they all answered no. The Amercian Express rep pointed out that while the rule was to sign your own name, "I've never seen an account cancelled for it." I then said, "certainly if they are denying the charges?" to which she replied, "well if you made the purchase and then deny the charge, that is fraud no matter what you sign."

When asked if signing "Elmer Fudd" on a receipt could be unlawful or in any way legally actionable, the Mastercard rep said, "oh no, no.. absolutely not. it's just there for the retailer". The rep from Visa said, after she finished laughing, "no it's not illegal." The rep from American Express said, "unlawful? no no no..." to which I specifically said, "so if someone comes into my store and signs something false, like a fake name, that's not illegal, you can't be arrested for that or anything, right?" and he replied, "no, you can't get arrested... it's for you and the store... so they know you're the cardholder."

So there you go. Against cardholder rules? Sure. Why? As a security measure between you and the retailer. Fraud? No. Not illegal. Can't get arrested.

I'm glad that's cleared up for everyone. :)

This is a great discussion, i'm really enjoying it. Thanks for posting so much, everyone, keep it up! :)

Thats fabulously funny since in reviewing the card holder agreements for my cards and for grins the card the bank I work for offers it says what I said it said.

Hmmm..... interesting.

As I mentioned in an early post, my employees use my credit cards for business expenses and fewer and fewer vendors are willing to accept that arrangement. The disagreement between Lady Sage and analog regarding the proper use of credit cards is an important enough issue for me personally to look into the matter further. For those that don't wish to dig out the various posts leading to this question, I have quoted them below followed by the comments given to me tonight from one of my card carriers, Chase.

Lady Sage #24
This is true. If one of my employees signed his name using my card (as they currently do for business expenses), for two tickets to Bora Bora, I would have his ass in jail. If I were the type of person that could rationalize cheating the credit card company and let the employee take the blame, that employee is royally screwed. Lady Sage is correct.

Lady Sage #38
Again, Lady Sage is correct. I suspect only a small number of transactions get caught at this point. I have been contacted by my card companies a number of times to verify a transaction as mine. Deactivation of the card would be instant, had I said 'no'.

analog #40
It is true that you can sign anything you wish, as long as you aren't doing so for fraudulent purposes. If you intentionally sign "Elmer Fudd" and then claim you have not authorized this purchase, you may or may not be pursued by the card issuer. Certainly the dollar amount and repeat activity of that kind would influence the course of action.

Lady Sage #43
I pulled one of my cardholder agreements and my eyes glazed over reading throught the multiple pages of legalspeak. I called my card company for the information I was looking for.

analog #44
It is this post that sent me to my card company for clarification. My Chase representative assured me that the merchant is not held responsible for the use of a false name ie "Elmer Fudd" nor is it "illegal" to do so. But what is missing in this scenerio, once again, is the intension of the signer. If fraud is intended, it will be treated as fraud. If you want to be immature by using goofy names to amuse yourself, you risk the chance of sharp eyes catching it, and killing your card.

analog
So am I

I don't know what you're on about, elphaba, because nothing you quoted and bolded the shit out of contradicts anything I said or proves I was incorrect about anything.

The points you so boldly announce as correct in the first few quotes were never contested to begin with.

However...

The only person missing anything is you, i.e. where I typed:

I also said so in my post #40. So yes, if it's intended to be fraud, then it will be treated as such. Obviously.

Well isn't that something... in just one post you go from ignoring what i'm typing and missing important things you later try to call me on, to putting extra words in that I never typed to begin with. How novel!

Did I ever say I put "Elmer Fudd" as a signature? Did I ever say I put a fake name of any kind as a signature? Nope. Sure didn't.

Nice flame, though. :thumbsup:

(...and what's up with all the bolding? Chill out.)

Uh....yes, you used Elmer Fudd as an example. Bolding is commonly used to distinquish between quotes and text; and using caps is done for the same reason. It is not always "shouting" and the notion of "chilling out" is not a new one, is it? Not a bit of flaming intended, nor do I see what you think is flaming.

And the "you" that you have taken offense to is the general "you", not the personal one. If you will review all of the previous posts, many people have chosen to use goofy signatures. I consider that option to be immature. You are free to your opinion.

I have never signed the back of my cards. I have never been asked for ID when using a card to purchase something. I'm going to sign "Fuck You" the next time I purchase something from Virgin Megastore.

I'll either go to jail, or just giggle to myself at the immaturity of it all. But then, I'm not too interested in proving my maturity to a 19 year old sales clerk at a record store.

I know this, I have "Ask for ID" on the back of all my cards. I talked to one of my card issuers upon getting my card and they told me directly that, if I write in the signature space "refused to ask for ID" that I could go back and challenge the purchase. I have never done this.

I also know that if someone signs on my card and does not have my approval I can challenge that purchase as it is fraud.

If I sign "blah blah blah" and when I get my bill I don't challenge the purchase then I am liable for it. However, if I challenge it and they pull the reciept and the sig, if it is not my signature then the company eats the loss.

(I would assume though if I signed "blah blah blah" and they had tape of me signing and I fought the signature, then I would in turn be prosecuted for fraud.)

Companies need to check on this, as do cardholders. Companies to fight fraud, cardholders so that they know their true rights.