“groovy mother...”

Not to rain on everyone’s “Chase is Crap” parade, but…

Currently floating high on reddit/digg/etc: The Torn-Up Credit Card Application, in which a man tears up a pre-printed credit-card application, tapes it back together, enters his parents’ address and his cellphone number, sends it into Chase, and gets a credit card issued. OMFGZ, etc.

A terrifying example of what someone can do if you don’t shred your incoming mail?

Hardly.

First of all, unmentioned is the fact that the form requires the entry of a Social Security Number. That’s the primary key to the whole credit-worthiness system in the US. The author presumably used his own valid SSN.

Secondly, the address he used was that of his parents. Depending on the age of the author, he might have lived at that address at some point in his life. That’d be on his credit history. Certainly, there’s a high probability that his parents have the same surname as him, so a check of property records wouldn’t throw up any red flags.

Thirdly, he used his own cellphone as the contact number. Sadly, it’s not unfeasible that the credit agencies have access to the cell companies’ databases—All cell phone companies perform a credit-check as part of service activation these days. A quick cross-check would show a match of person to phone number. Perhaps even show length of service—A long-time held phone number is going to be less likely to be used in fraud than a sparkling new one.

So Chase gets a torn-up application, for a pre-filled application which contains a SSN, employer information, and a cellphone number which all match the applicant 100%, plus a mailing address that any fuzzy authentication would give a thumbs-up to. Just another person who’s had to move back in with his parents. No wonder they gave him his card.

Before you panic and run to Staples forthwith, might I suggest someone try this scientifically? Purchase a pay-as-you-go phone with cash. Fill in a pre-filled credit card form with that phone number, a fake SSN and the address of someone unrelated to you (preferably someone you don’t particularly like, since they may well get a knock on the door from the feds). Don’t even rip up the form—just send it in as new. Wanna take bets on whether the embossed plastic will be on their doorstep any time soon?

In the meantime, I’ll focus on avoiding giving my SSN, address, cellphone number and employment history to strangers.

Mama’s Got A

At some point, I may well get around to writing a review of my Squeezebox (summary: Love the mutherfunker to pieces), but as I sit here in my hotel room in San Diego (vaguely contemplating sleep prior to the start of ETech), I must say how impressed I am with the Softsqueeze Java player.

Thanks to its built-in SSH tunneling, I’m able to listen to my entire music collection on my server at home as if I were there. An excellent idea, and proof of the value of building an open infrastructure to support proprietary hardware.