ID verification gone mad

James

The whole ML process makes me smile. More often than not the persons examining the documentation provided hasn't a clue what they are looking at. Passport, licences, utility bills can all be cloned or stolen. They provide a limited amount of security. No challenge for the professional ID thief. Probably the item you have in your wallet least likely to be cloned is your Chip and PIN or Chip & Signature card. Shame ID crooks apply for Chip & PIN cards.

Why not protect yourself, get FREE warnings of attempted ID theft on your file, and hold banks/lenders to account, try this:

The Simple Way To Foil Identity Theft

dunstonh

The biggest issue with money laundering rules is that it is guidance and risk based and the rules can be interpreted in different ways by different firms.

I bought a new car for my wife a few weeks back and the dealer wouldn't accept passport as one of the things to confirm identity. Yet the passport is one of the best documents to use for identity of individual. However, he would accept a scan of my wife's debit card. A debit card doesnt confirm anything and isnt on the JLMG's recommended list.

I have no problems with the requirements but do get frustrated when you you get someone telling you that they need something that they do not.

James

dunstonh wrote:

. However, he would accept a scan of my wife's debit card. A debit card doesnt confirm anything and isnt on the JLMG's recommended list.

I have no problems with the requirements but do get frustrated when you you get someone telling you that they need something that they do not.

I presume he scanned both sides of your wife's card? I'm sure you recognise the risk.

dunstonh

I certainly recognise the risk and I raised the point. Didnt get anywhere though. I wasnt overly concerned though as the card expired 10 days ago and has a new sig strip number.

regularsaver1

Some banks now - if you get get verified, always verified

but if you change address, have post returned ect then a dormant indicator will be added to the account until you supply further id - it does protect customer in case other people get hold of their info ect

Thriftylady

regularsaver1 wrote:

Some banks now - if you get get verified, always verified

but if you change address, have post returned ect then a dormant indicator will be added to the account until you supply further id - it does protect customer in case other people get hold of their info ect

I'm all for protecting the customer but a lot of the bank's (possibly even most of them) own record keeping is abysmal, so you can inform them of your change of address, provide all the necessary proof, and they still might not update their records. Even with all the requirements of the data protection act, keeping info relevant and up to date etc, there doesn't seem to be any real punishment for banks who fail to do this, and as always its the customers who suffer.....I just think there has to be a better way than the system that we have at the moment.

moooooo

After 9/11 every single customer of a bank had to be re identified, to make sure that the banks had the best chance of finding accounts opened using fake details that may be funding terrorism.

ID takes two forms. Name ID, and address ID. Therefore, all you need is a driving license or passport (and i'm sorry, but in this day and age to not have one of these as proof of ID is pretty naive, considering these are the most valid and widely supported forms of ID) and a bill. Not hard is it. Whats a passport nowadays, £50? So, £50 for ten years of not having to worry about being asked for ID............seems pretty much worth it to me.

And yes, of course ID can become out of date. There's no point in having a picture of you as a 12 year old child on your passport if your 30. Which is why the put expiry dates on them.......

Cypher

(and i'm sorry, but in this day and age to not have one of these as proof of ID is pretty naive, considering these are the most valid and widely supported forms of ID)

You need a driving licence to drive, not everyone chooses to do so.

A passport is also meant to be for going abroad on holiday / business, again I have no intention of doing so, if a passport was FREE then yes I would have one, as they aren't and I have a family of 5 I don't.
The cost of obtaining new passports just so I can prove who I am is not my first priority in life.

Until recently I hadn't realised how stupid this having to prove who you are had become, if I had stuck to my old ways of living, borrowing money and running up credit cards debts I probably still would be niave in your eyes.

Why is it easier to run up debts in this country than it is to become a saver :mad:

PJHilder

Cypher wrote:

Why is it easier to run up debts in this country than it is to become a saver :mad:

Why does opening a current account feel more like you're applying for a mortgage?

Thriftylady

moooooo wrote:

After 9/11 every single customer of a bank had to be re identified, to make sure that the banks had the best chance of finding accounts opened using fake details that may be funding terrorism.

I've never heard of this and I work in a bank - we certainly were never asked to re-verify everyones identity. Presumably, like the rest of the money laundering legislation, this was actually down to each companies own judgement? The law says they have to take reasonable steps, it doesn't really specify what they are.

moooooo wrote:

ID takes two forms. Name ID, and address ID. Therefore, all you need is a driving license or passport (and i'm sorry, but in this day and age to not have one of these as proof of ID is pretty naive, considering these are the most valid and widely supported forms of ID) and a bill. Not hard is it. Whats a passport nowadays, £50? So, £50 for ten years of not having to worry about being asked for ID............seems pretty much worth it to me.

I think they are about £60 these days. I didn't have a passport for years because I couldn't afford to go abroad and to be honest I couldn't have afforded the actual passport either. This didn't particularly bother me, but what did bother me was being treated like a criminal when my only crime was not being able to afford foreign travel. How ironic that potential terrorists are the very ones who are likely to have been travelling all over the place making their plans - having a passport doesn't prove that you're not a criminal.