Identity swap

Yesterday I was simultaneously the victim and the perpetrator of identity theft, albeit unwittingly on both accounts.

A friend and I went to lunch, and after paying for our food, neither of us noticed that the waitress mixed up our check cards while giving them back. As we both use the same bank, it was not immediately noticeable to either of us, and we both went about our days.

This morning while paying for breakfast, I noticed a strange glimmer from the direction of my check card. Though apparently it wasn't actually my card. Upon closer examination, I noticed it was in fact my friend's card, which was newer, and so the silver lettering of the name and other data had not yet worn away.

I about keeled over in embarrassment as I retracted my card from the cashier and instead provided cash. I immediately texted my friend an inquiry about the status of my check card, and he was equally surprised that the card in his wallet was not, in fact, his own.

My initial thought was that I was glad I didn't charge anything to his card, that I was lucky to have caught myself before I did anything stupid. But we got together for lunch again to re-swap cards, and he asked about a charge he saw on his account. Doh! I had charged dinner the night before without realizing. Didn't once look at the name on the card. Nobody ever challenged me with signature mismatches. Nothing.

And on his part, he made a couple different charges at pharmacies, and even tried to get cash back via debit mode. However, when the PIN failed (to his confusion) the cashier -- WITH CARD IN HAND -- converted each transaction to credit to conclude the transaction, clearly not checking the signature. I say clearly because my card is not even signed. I've written "Ask for I.D." on the back of it, which they did not do. Even when I use the card myself, only about 10% of the time do people see the request and fulfill it by verifying my I.D.

So, let that be a lesson to you folks. It IS that easy for someone else to use your credit cards, whether on purpose or by accident. So if someone takes your card, and forges your signature, unless I.D. is verified, it seems unlikely they will get caught.