Online purchase, asking for ID

RedPlanet · 26-01-2009 04:14PM #1

My missus ordered an item online, it cost over 200€, the retailer is now asking for ID, like a scan of a passport.
This strikes me as rather unusual and potentially unsafe.
What do you think?
Ever heard of such a thing?

biko · 26-01-2009 04:34PM

Never heard of it.
Did she use paypal or cc?
Who is seller? What site?

charlesD · 26-01-2009 04:39PM

I used to work at a hotel and to combat credit card fraud, we required a copy front and back of the credit card and a copy of a persons driver license if they wanted to use a credit card that they did not have with them.

This pissed off some people, but I know for certain that we stopped at least one case of credit card fraud because of this requirement.

While in some cases I don't think it is that abnormal of a request, I guess it depends on the vendor. I have never had an online dealer request this information, nor any private people do so, so I think it would be a weird request from one of these people.

However, if it is a company that doesn't typically sell things online, then I don't think it is that weird of a request.

With that said, I think if you have to ask at all, then it would be a good idea to not send it right away and instead do some investigating into the company and also give them a call to see if there is another way of verifying your identity without sending a copy of your passport.

This kind of request would send up some red flags with me as well, but without knowing who the vendor is I couldn't really say for sure if it is an abnormal request.

FruitLover · 26-01-2009 05:31PM

I've seen it once in a blue moon, I think they were all (reputable) German sites.

BuffyBot · 26-01-2009 05:57PM

A few sites do this. Especially computer/electronics site. Pixmania is one that springs to mind.

_CreeD_ · 27-01-2009 03:33AM

Don't send your complete details over email. Obfuscate parts of the image to where it still verifies your identity but does not provide enough info. for it to be used to replicate the ID.

Zab · 27-01-2009 03:47AM

_CreeD_ wrote: »

Don't send your complete details over email. Obfuscate parts of the image to where it still verifies your identity but does not provide enough info. for it to be used to replicate the ID.

Definitely try this first, but some places will reject it.

biko · 27-01-2009 08:40AM

I must shop at different sites. This is the first time I ever heard of this.

s_carnage · 27-01-2009 08:50AM

This happened me when i bought a TV on pixmania. I just took a photo of my driving licence with my phone and sent it to my computer via bluetooth and e-mailed it off. They never told me at the beginning I needed to do this though. It was only when I phoned up to complain about the delayed delivery I was informed about this policy.

RedPlanet · 27-01-2009 09:34AM

I think it's innocent.
The email said they'd accept a photo of the credit card and that we could blur out the numbers, so that's what we did.

biko · 27-01-2009 09:57AM

And name still visible?

RedPlanet · 27-01-2009 10:03AM

yes

Online purchase, asking for ID

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