Tuco

I placed an order at CDBox (Italy) and completed checkout with my credit card, it was secure 128 bit, and received an email the following day from CDBox asking me to fax them a copy of my "identity document," which i think means my driver's license. Is this common, think it's safe?

renaldow

I wouldn't do it. Although if it was for something I really needed and I couldn't get elsewhere, I might make a bad photocopy of my license, making sure most of the info is obscured and then fax that.

Driver's licenses do not fax well to begin with, we'd get them all the time when I worked in consumer finance and usually they were black rectangles that were unreadable.

d2cheer

I did it for DVDgo.com and it worked just fine. But I am able to check my transactions online everyday to make sure that there isn't anything funny going on.

the_eza

This seems to be very common for online shops in southern/central Europe. One company required a faxed photocopy of my credit card. I did fax it, since the company was well referenced and they had some titles I could not find elsewhere but since the fax was unreadable, they refused to sell me anything. They only accepted my order after I scanned my credit card and emailed them the pictures.

I guess too many people have abused someone elses credit card...

benedict

I have heard of it before buit never experienced it personally but then I order predominantly from the UK, the US (and once from Germany when I found a good deal on some books via a pricematching site).

My question is this: what do you think is inherently unsafe about sending a fax of your driving licence? Could they engage in "identity theft" using it? (Serious question - I don't know just how such scams work but would normally feel OK about faxing something like a credit card or a licence or whatever).

Tuco

They have my address, credit card & expiration from my order, my license would also give them my DOB and license #, which isn't my SS# but still seems like enough information to cause some problems if they weren't honest. I guess I should look into CDBox's history to be safe.

renaldow

Yes, they could. They could also add it to a database of foreign ID's that they sell. ID theft is fairly easy to do in the US, it's even easier to do overseas (imitate a US citizen.) I don't know that they would do that, and I suspect they probably wouldn't. But, you never know and if it was an etailer I was not familiar with or did not know much about, then I personally wouldn't. (I've been a victim of ID theft, not fun, don't want to go down that road again!)

Tuco

Thanks for all the info, I scanned my license but it is going to be making a stop in photoshop where a few of the numbers will be changed before I fax it off

Abstrakt

If it makes you feel any better, it's the same thing the other way around as well. I've had to fax proof of ID to many reputable American retailers, such as DVD Empire and DVD Planet, when placing my first orders with them.

As you know, the only required information to charge a credit card is the CC number, expiration date and cardholder name. However, due to rampant CC fraud, most retailers will also ask for the billing address matching your card. Verifying this information is pretty easy for domestic orders, and most CC processing services will take care of that automatically.

However things are not the same when it comes to foreign credit cards... There is no easy way to verify foreign billing information, short of actually phoning the issuing bank and asking them. Needless to say, retailers would rather avoid the hassles of dealing with international phone charges, language differences, different business hours, etc...

Having you fax a proof of ID is the easiest way to verify that you are the rightful holder of that credit card. Obviously, you could just as easily fax them a forged document, but at least the retailer will have done its part in attempting to verify your identity. (Which is important in case of actual fraud.)

Cheers.

holger

I have bought dvds through getvcds 10 times the last couple of months and suddenly ccnow wanted me to fax them a copy of the cc. Whats the point? if they check they could see that my card is a valid one. Irritating.

Abstrakt

Whether or not the card is valid is not the point. The whole point of faxing your ID and/or the card itself is to verify that you are its rightful holder. Stolen (but valid) CC info can be found all over the net, unfortunately.

Gypo66

I placed an order with dvdgo in Spain last week and now they've just sent me an email asking me to fax them photocopies of my credit card, front and back. They seem on the up and up, but I'm obviously a little nervous. Should I be?

Tuco

I placed my 1st order there last week and received a shipping confirmation 3 days after checkout with no request for a fax.

d2cheer

No don't be it is for security reasons, I have placed several orders with them and had to do this for the first one. I have not had any problems with doing it.