IANAL, but legally, any mark you make with the intent of signing is a signature. I guess you could claim after the fact that it wasn't you who signed the receipt, though...
Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
31–37 of 37 posts
Re: Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chip & Pin has been a major headache for me...I'm living in the UK for a year and neither one of my Canadian CC's have chip and pin. On numerous occasions cashiers have to call management to find out if they're even allowed to accept my credit card....I just carry cash now.
Surely the answer to that is to set up a UK bank account and use a debit card (I make most payments with a debit card).
It's become rather difficult to set up UK personal bank accounts, thanks to the "know your customer" anti-terrorist regulations. Plus, UK retail banks offer uniformly terrible customer service by international standards (I've experienced three UK banks). Using offshore credit cards has long been a common choice.
Re: Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
But that opens up an obvious scam: 1. Buy something with your credit card 2. Sign with a false name 3. Contest the charge 4. Get a refund--keep the merchandise.
There are lots of soft was to scam the system. The question is are you that type of person? Is that the life you pick? Running small scams hoping you won't get caught. Focus your energy on building something useful. You've already completed step one of that process "read hacker news."
Don't worry--having the mindset and creativity to think of ways to break the system aren't always bundled with the inclination to actually do them. I have better ways of applying my creativity. I suspect I just have what Schneier calls a "security mindset": http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/03/the_security_m...
Re: Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
#34It's because the signatures aren't used as a security system in the first world. Here in South America i get checks and credit card receipts rejected on a pretty regular basis because my signature is slightly off. By which i mean, i didn't make the curve of the P the same way. Believe me, i prefer they didn't check. When i complain, they offer to let me put each variation of my signature on file, so i could have seve…
I've had a number of transactions and credit card applications rejected in Switzerland because my signatures didn't match. Not sure if Switzerland qualifies as "first world", on that basis.
Re: Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
#35Signing a credit card receipt is not for signature verification. You are signing a contract that you agree to pay under the terms of your card agreement. Therefore, it doesn't matter how you sign as long as it was you. If you sign a multimillion dollar recording contract with a smiley face, you are still agreeing to the terms of the contract. Your signature doesn't have to match anything.
If signatures were for verification, then they wouldn't have you sign the back. That would be like writing your login on post-it note stuck to your computer.
Re: Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
#36Most cashiers hand my card back to me with the receipt to sign, and can't verify my signature. But many stores are now switching to using a PIN with chip cards, at least here in Canada. And Europe's had chip cards forever now. In fact, some places there no longer even have machines to read a magnetic stripe.
What's the advantage of chip + PIN over stripe + PIN?
It is much more difficult to clone a chip card than a magnetic one.
Re: Testing the Limits of Credit Card Signatures (Part 1)
#37Just the other day I went out and bought gas at a gas station for my friend's bike, with his credit card and his cell phone in my pocket. (He got his licence the next day) The scanner didn't work so I had to go to the counter, and had to fake a signature. Nobody even batted an eye. It was exhilarating, and unnerving at the same time... Maybe I should just chalk it up to my mind-busting ability to play it cool?
(just kidding about that last bit!)