h a l f b a k e r y
Contrary to popular belief
idea:
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, best, random
meta:
news, help, about, links, report a problem
account:
Browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
Login
Create account.
|
|
|
Kid Scraping
Using what we've already got to solve an emerging problem. | |
One of the more recent trends in identity theft in the US is stealing kids' social security numbers and using them to commit various types of fraud. Since the IRS already collects social security numbers and childrens' ages on tax forms it would be easy enough to scrape that information from their files
and build a database of parent-child relationships that credit card companies, banks, etc... could use when verifying things like new accounts and purchases. If a two-year old tried to buy a Lexus you'd know you either had a problem on your hands or a very gifted child. As a special bonus from the government, the parents of children whose ID numbers have had search hits against them could be sent a report once a year showing when the inquiries took place and who made them.
[link]
|
| |
That's ridiculous! A two-year old wouldn't get approved for the loan on a Lexus ( . . . unless he had a four year old sister to co-sign it.) |
|
| |
contracts - Just in case you're not from the US and thus not being sarcastic (or someone from outside the US reads your anno and thinks you're serious), when a kid's identity is stolen today they only take the ID number, not the age of the person it belongs to. When they apply for supporting ID numbers or use the ID on the Lexus loan application there's currently no way for the institution they're dealing with to discover an age-related conflict. |
|
| |
<homer simpson speaking> hmmm... Identity fraud eh? BART!? What's your social security number...?</hs> |
|
| |
Could this idea be extended so that angry ex-girlfriends can't steal your credit card and go out and buy a sofa? |
|
| |
<considering returning the sofa I just bought before I get into trouble with the DA> |
|
| |
//Kid Scraping //
n. What parents do after their child steps in dog doo. |
|
| |
I take it that in the US you need any creditcard number together with any id-number and than you get a loan? Over the phone? Or internet? So I can pretend to be you and cause a lot of sh** for you? |
|
| |
I cannot stress this enough: the american society seems rotten to core to me. Any idea to counter this gets my bun. |
|
| |
phundug - I probably shouldn't have used 'scraping' in this case because only those working in the IT industry would catch it as being a derivative of 'screen scraping' (where a program scrapes what shows up on a computer display screen and converts it into a more modern and useful format). |
|
| |