ID checks fail to keep DHS head safe

[jw1980]

Seriously.

 

The Secret Service agents assigned to protecting the head of the Department of Homeland Security should be able to conduct an ID check as effectively and thoroughly as anyone.

 

Yet, despite routine ID checks, the Secret Service inadvertently allowed illegal workers into the home of the DHS head.

 

These weren't professional criminals with hundreds of thousands of dollars riding on the deception. These were simple people, without access to vast sums of money or criminal resources. Their motivation was simply to work hard doing unskilled labor. They couldn't afford the best ID money could buy, nor did they know those suppliers.

 

If the Secret Service can't keep a cabinet level official safe from illegal workers with false papers, then why do people expect untrained clerks to be able to stop with professional thieves making their livings through crime and deception?

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews

Cleaning Firm Used Illegal Workers at Chertoff Home

 

 

By Spencer S. Hsu

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, December 11, 2008; Page A01

Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.

 

The company's owner says the workers sailed through the checks -- although some of them turned out to be illegal immigrants.

 

 

This is about ID checks not being effective, even when performed by professionals. It is not about politics or immigration, so please don't make that the issue

Edited December 11, 2008 by jw1980

[Maxima]

What does this have to do with Visa/MC policies. Nothing is 100% effective in preventing violations. Society has accepted a certain amount of human error. What can you do?

[Uncle Leo]

Maybe they should have had them sign a piece of paper and checked their signatures.

[jw1980]

What does this have to do with Visa/MC policies. Nothing is 100% effective in preventing violations. Society has accepted a certain amount of human error. What can you do?

Some people feel that ID checks would stamp out credit card fraud.

 

Checking ID is neither simple nor foolproof.

 

If the Secret Service can't keep illegal ID from being used to gain entry to a cabinet secretary's home, then how can a retailer be expected to use ID to stop professional thieves?

[LBCS]

Maybe they should have had them sign a piece of paper and checked their signatures.

 

LOL

[GEORGE]

What does this have to do with Visa/MC policies. Nothing is 100% effective in preventing violations. Society has accepted a certain amount of human error. What can you do?

Some people feel that ID checks would stamp out credit card fraud.

 

Checking ID is neither simple nor foolproof.

 

If the Secret Service can't keep illegal ID from being used to gain entry to a cabinet secretary's home, then how can a retailer be expected to use ID to stop professional thieves?

MY DRIVERS LICENSE IS A PERMIT TO DRIVE A CAR/TRUCK...not a permit to use my signed credit cards

 

Also my drivers license was signed 15 or 20 years ago (US MAIL RENEWAL)

[Continental]

There are no "ID checks" allowed with credit cards.

 

CREDIT CARD SIGNATURE IS ALL THE ID NEEDED

 

When you pay for merchandise with a Visa card, MasterCard, or American Express any store that accepts these cards should accept yours too, no questions asked. It's part of the deal that merchants agree to when they become participating members.

 

They must check your signature and the card - electronically or by telephone - to be sure it's valid. Once the answer comes up yes, they can go ahead and charge. They can't ask you for any further identification - not a license plate number, Social Security number, proof of address, phone number or photo ID.

 

Your personal ID isn't needed because Visa, MasterCard, and American Express all guarantee payment on cards that have been properly checked. If the issuer mistakenly authorizes a sale on a bad card, it should make good. MasterCard says that merchants receive instant settlement. The contract MasterCard merchants sign specifically prevents them from asking for personal ID.

 

Unfortunately, not all merchants play by the rules. Some, apparently, haven't read them.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

 

MasterCard wants to hear about merchants who break their rules. Send the name and address and an account of what happened to MasterCard WorldWide 2000 Purchase St. Purchase, NY 10577 or call 1-800-300-3069. The merchant's bank will get a stiff letter, ordering it to investigate and bring the offending store into line - or pay a $2,000 fine. You may also report violations online:

 

http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/c...violations.html

 

Visa enforces the same rules as MasterCard. "When we hear about a violation, we ask the bank that signed the merchant to get together with the merchant and see that the practice is stopped," Visa representative states. To report a merchant, send a letter to the bank that that issued your Visa card or call 1-800-VISA-911.

 

American Express also prohibits merchants from asking for IDs. "All a merchant is supposed to do is take an imprint, make sure the signature matches and swipe the card through the terminal, to get authorization."

[centex]

Almost five months to work up the outrage for cut and paste?

 

Would be nice if the software auto-locked threads at a particular point in time.

 

But to teh subject at hand, it is an apples to oranges because you don't know WHAT was being checked. And I have to bite my tongue there because otherwise it strays into the verboten...

[rrsdicom]

What does this have to do with Visa/MC policies. Nothing is 100% effective in preventing violations. Society has accepted a certain amount of human error. What can you do?

Some people feel that ID checks would stamp out credit card fraud.

 

Checking ID is neither simple nor foolproof.

 

If the Secret Service can't keep illegal ID from being used to gain entry to a cabinet secretary's home, then how can a retailer be expected to use ID to stop professional thieves?

MY DRIVERS LICENSE IS A PERMIT TO DRIVE A CAR/TRUCK...not a permit to use my signed credit cards

 

Also my drivers license was signed 15 or 20 years ago (US MAIL RENEWAL)

In New Hampshire a driver's license is just that - a permit to drive a motor vehicle. A driver's license in New Hampshire is not officially an IDENTIFICATION CARD.

 

However, if one has a driver's license, one is not allowed to also have a state issued identification card - go figure...

[GEORGE]

What does this have to do with Visa/MC policies. Nothing is 100% effective in preventing violations. Society has accepted a certain amount of human error. What can you do?

Some people feel that ID checks would stamp out credit card fraud.

 

Checking ID is neither simple nor foolproof.

 

If the Secret Service can't keep illegal ID from being used to gain entry to a cabinet secretary's home, then how can a retailer be expected to use ID to stop professional thieves?

MY DRIVERS LICENSE IS A PERMIT TO DRIVE A CAR/TRUCK...not a permit to use my signed credit cards

 

Also my drivers license was signed 15 or 20 years ago (US MAIL RENEWAL)

In New Hampshire a driver's license is just that - a permit to drive a motor vehicle. A driver's license in New Hampshire is not officially an IDENTIFICATION CARD.

 

However, if one has a driver's license, one is not allowed to also have a state issued identification card - go figure...

No law says you have to have a DRIVER'S LICENSE (unless you are driving a motor vehicle)