"Hackers" thwart card-skimming attempt

[¥Mderms¥]

Aw geez lets get back on subject already eh?

I didn't really read it. Skimmed it, actually.

On a related note, I lol'd hard.

[BFM_Edison]

As if anyone in their right mind would trust Microsoft >.>

whats that suppose to mean? u suppose that i be trusting u?    

lets face facts, in the IQ thread, Jane and X got a much higher IQ score than you. why should i trust u over them?

Your IQ is 112,  X's IQ is 160 in the iq test.

i pointed out what microsoft position is. i trust microsoft grammar check a lot it saves me a lot when i do my essays.

why should i trust you over  Jane and X and Microsoft?

Disregarding the fact that the score you are referencing is from when I took that nearly six years ago (and I now get 132 and up since), that those scores are using different standard deviations (meaning they can't be compared in any way, shape, or form), and that this is a question of knowledge and not intelligence, that was a very rude comment to make.

[Titanium»X«]

As if anyone in their right mind would trust Microsoft >.>

whats that suppose to mean? u suppose that i be trusting u?    

lets face facts, in the IQ thread, Jane and X got a much higher IQ score than you. why should i trust u over them?

Your IQ is 112,  X's IQ is 160 in the iq test.

i pointed out what microsoft position is. i trust microsoft grammar check a lot it saves me a lot when i do my essays.

why should i trust you over  Jane and X and Microsoft?

Disregarding the fact that the score you are referencing is from when I took that nearly six years ago (and I now get 132 and up since), that those scores are using different standard deviations (meaning they can't be compared in any way, shape, or form), and that this is a question of knowledge and not intelligence, that was a very rude comment to make.

You have a lot of run-on sentences 

[BFM_Edison]

Run-on sentence implies that it is not grammatically sound, resulting in it being too long. This is not the case That has nothing on the sentence lengths of 300 years ago.

[BFM_Hydra]

I've heard of devices put in machines to eat cards and record pin numbers, but not of someone planting an entire ATM.

[BFM_Hydra]

Run-on sentence implies that it is not grammatically sound, resulting in it being too long. This is not the case That has nothing on the sentence lengths of 300 years ago.

But you see, sentences of 300 or so years ago were really made for academics because not everyone could read, and this meant that it didn't really matter how long such sentences were and as well as this academics had yet to have discovered the "full stop" as we now so fondly call it and I believe that these days the full stop is overrepresented in sentencing, paragraphs and general writing, when a comma or perhaps the word 'and' could simply be used as a replacement, or even the old semi-colon or colon or the other little devious character that we know as the hypon.

[BFM_Hydra]

And, if you are Cool, it doesn't matter how long your sentences are because I swear his full stop key is broken

[MrMxyzptlk]

my card has the fraud gurantee if someone frauds my card. they will give me money back if someone stole my pin right?

[...]

That depends on where you live....

You see, only CREDIT CARDS (and CREDIT transactions) are (federally) protected by the $50 liability limit - in the United States. (I have NO idea what the laws are about that in other countries....)

Your liability WRT your DEBIT card is COMPLETELY up to the contract you have with the card's carrier (which MIGHT NOT be your bank!)  That liability varies both widely AND wildly....

P.S. Interesting facts (I learned from the US Secret Service, no less!): You are NOT covered by the federal $50 "lost or stolen/card or #" credit liability UNLESS YOU'VE SIGNED THE BACK OF YOUR CARD PRIOR TO its illegal use! (And it also must be reported within 24 hours of it's the loss/theft....) 

Hence if you're credit card is lost or stolen and you hadn't signed the back of it, YOU ARE LIABLE FOR EVERY CENT CHARGED TO IT THEREAFTER! 

(In reality CC companies are used to this and rarely enforce that aspect, tho, but they COULD if they wanted to recoup the cost. So I'd start signing the back of those new credit cards when you get them!)

[BFM_Edison]

Run-on sentence implies that it is not grammatically sound, resulting in it being too long. This is not the case That has nothing on the sentence lengths of 300 years ago.

But you see, sentences of 300 or so years ago were really made for academics because not everyone could read, and this meant that it didn't really matter how long such sentences were and as well as this academics had yet to have discovered the "full stop" as we now so fondly call it and I believe that these days the full stop is overrepresented in sentencing, paragraphs and general writing, when a comma or perhaps the word 'and' could simply be used as a replacement, or even the old semi-colon or colon or the other little devious character that we know as the hypon.

You actually do have a run-on sentence as you forgot your comma before the "and" By the way, what's a hypon? Are you referring to a hyphen or semi-colon perhaps? And tsk tsk tsk, triple posting.

[BFM_Hydra]

In Australia if you have your identity stolen, too bad.


...And you can't use a credit card if it's not signed...

[BFM_Edison]

Legally you're not supposed to, but when you pay with it they don't always check.

[BFM_Hydra]

I always checked.

If it wasn't signed I just asked them to sign it first

(What else was I gonna do???)

[BFM_Edison]

Cut it in half!

[MrMxyzptlk]

I always checked.

If it wasn't signed I just asked them to sign it first

(What else was I gonna do???)

Actually... that's what you're SUPPOSED to do!    

It's pretty crazy what one's "supposed to do" in some related situations.

Case in point:

While working at a hotel desk and checking in a customer he presented his credit card - in advance, which is now common practice - and I checked out the signature on the back while he filled out his registration and signed it.

His signature on the registration looked NOTHING like the one on the back of his card! The name was the same, but the ANGLE was even reversed! (Like it was done with the other hand!) and the styles were COMPLETELY different!

Thinking quickly, when I ran his credit card to imprint its info onto his registration form (common practice, again here) I hooked my leg into the cord for the imprint machine and yanked it out of the wall without him noticing.

"Oh! I'm afraid that your credit card has gotten stuck in our machine! I'm so sorry! The bellman here will show you to your room, and I'll see to it that you get your card as soon as I can get it out of the machine" I lied.

Off he goes, back in goes the plug, out comes the card, which I show around and get 100% agreement "that's not the same signature at all" from other staff members.

So I turn to our CC fraud book and look up the security phone number for that credit firm and give them a ring....

Voila! (Major businesses get those calls answered pretty quickly, BTW!) I'm speaking with the card company's Security guy, and describing my situation to him, and the fact that I have his card in-hand at the moment, while he isn't here.

"Did you confront the gentleman about the difference in signatures?" says the voice on the phone.

"Uhhhh, no. Wouldn't his answer be pretty obvious in any event?" says me.

"I'm sorry, but we can't take any action until he claims that it's his own card, at which point I'd have you put him on the line with me." says Mr. Security Big Whig.

"You're serious?"

"Yes.  Please have the customer confirm whether it's his card or not, and if he claims to be its owner call me back." >click!<

"This is completely nuts!" my brain says to the rest of me. "But, hey, they're the experts and I'm just doin' the job, so...."

I call up the gentlemen and explain that I've managed to get his card unstuck and (thankfully!) he's says he'll be right down to pick it up.

Upon his arrival - and before I give him his card back - I show him what's going on. I put his card down (signature-side up) next you his signature on the registration and state "Um, I noticed that your signature upon registration is NOTHING like the one on the back of your card. Pardon me, but this IS YOUR card, right?" ("Whew! I did it!" sighs brain....)

"Oh yeah, I get that all the time. It's so hard for me to sign in that teeny space they give you it ends up all strange like that. Here, look." He draws a little rectangle on the form and signs somewhat more similarly to the card this time, but still....

He notices my look of concern and says "Just call the credit card people. This happens to me all the time. They'll tell you it's okay."

("WOOT! I'm saved!" screams brain!)

I call (the same security guy via his direct number) back, explain that I've confronted the customer, who claims it's his card, and the security guy wants me to put the man on the phone.

"Yeah, you guys know about this. You get called all the time about me. Check your records, you'll see." <pause> "Unh-hunh." <pause> "Not any time soon! Here, he wants to talk to you." and hands me the phone back.

"It's okay, This happens to him all the time. Give him his card back. Everything's fine.  Thank you for calling XYZ card securty." <CLICK!>

I give him his card back, and he says "I mostly do it just to <make them mad> and <mess with them>, so not-to-worry! You did a fine job, by the way! See you." and off he goes!

It was a little bit of time spent watch his back walk away before I realized that I still had the phone in my hand and hung it up.

>Sigh< "Just another story for the book I write someday about my experiences as a Hotel Desk Clerk!" says that chatting brain....

To this day I'm still COMPLETELY AMAZED at how ridiculous a "security system" that was/is! "When in doubt, confront the possible thief?" YA RIGHT!

P.S. JANE and I should probably have a "long post/story" thread of our own, ya think?!  

[BFM_Hydra]

Wow. That system is broken, no offence!

If that happened here, I'd apologise and dash off to see the manager, I guess. But I've never had it happen to me where the signatures have not matched.