Identity theft: It is something that we hear about everyday.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, 9 million people have their identities stolen every year. It can be as simple as a stolen credit-card number or as invasive as someone taking over your life.
Once your identity is stolen, it can take months if not years and hundreds if not thousands of dollars to correct. Sometimes, it cannot be corrected; then begins the long process of re-establishing your credit.
We, as consumers, take all precautions possible. We shred all our mail into little bits. We check our credit ratings to make sure there are no false reports. If there are, we contact the authorities immediately. We do everything we can to protect ourselves.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
What about local businesses? They love our money, but what if it isn’t our money? What if someone uses a credit card that doesn’t belong to them? This is something that happens every day. Men using credit cards with a woman’s name on it and vice versa. Why don’t businesses check for proper identification? If the person using the card and the name on the card is not the same, why do businesses still take that card as payment? Most businesses have that little machine that you just swipe the card through. The employee still asks if it is a debit card or credit card.
If the customer says credit card, then why doesn’t the employee ask for proper identification? This is a practice that only takes a couple of seconds. If the person using the card and the name on the card are the same, then complete the transaction and tell the customer to have a nice day! Most people will be very happy that the business took the time to ensure that everything was legal. If they are not the same person, tell them you cannot accept the card and can they pay with another means.
This is not rocket science, folks. This is plain old common sense.
