Oct 23 2008
Tested And Replicated!
This explains a lot.
I’ve read recent reports of the Obama campaign receiving donations from dubious names and foreign locales and it got me wondering: How is this possible?
I run a small Internet business and when I process credit cards I’m required to make sure the name on the card exactly matches the name of the customer making the purchase. Also, the purchaser’s address must match that of the cardholders. If these don’t match, then the payment isn’t approved. Period. So how is it possible that the Obama campaign could receive donations from fictional people and places? Well, I decided to do a little experiment. I went to the Obama campaign website and entered the following:
Name: John Galt
Address: 1957 Ayn Rand Lane
City: Galts Gulch
State: CO
Zip: 99999Then I checked the box next to $15 and entered my actual credit card number and expiration date (it didn’t ask for the 3-didgit code on the back of the card) and it took me to the next page and… “Your donation has been processed. Thank you for your generous gift.”
This simply should not, and could not, happen in any business or any campaign that is honestly trying to vet it’s donors. Also, I don’t see how this could possibly happen without the collusion of the credit card companies. They simply wouldn’t allow any business to process, potentially, hundreds of millions in credit card transactions where the name on the card doesn’t match the purchasers name.
In short, with the system set up as it is by the Obama camp, an individual could donate unlimited amounts of money by simply making up fake names and addresses. And Obama is doing his best to facilitate this fraud. This is truly scandalous.
I tried the exact same thing at the McCain site and it didn’t allow the transaction.
I went back to the Obama site and made three additional donations using the names Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Bill Ayers, all with different addresses. All the transactions went through using the same credit card. I saved screenshots of the transactions.
Hope and change!
3 responses so far
i have a business. the POS machine that i use to process credit/debit card transactions asks for the address [house number only] and zip, but they DO NOT have to match in order for the card payment to process. it is possible that they are not processing these contributions via the internet, but rather by hand via POS machines - hand keying in the information. no name is required on these transactions. if a funny charge appears on the cardholder’s statement, s/he can initiate a ‘chargeback’, and the business must submit copies of papers with a signature in order to prevent the payment from being returned to the cardholder. there is a $40 fee for every chargeback initiated - the business must pay that fee regardless of whether they can prove the charge is valid or not.
it’s legal. it’s risky. it’s cumbersome. it might be paying off.
Will Visa give you the money back?
Visa WILL give you the money back if the folks who charged your card cannot produce the paperwork that proves you initiated the charge - that means a matching signature. there is no signature on internet transactions, which is why transactions processed through the internet usually require complete matching of name, address and the little three digit # on the back of the card. with a POS machine, if a fake name/address were used, and there’s no signature, and there’s no proof that the card was present for the transaction [no carbon, or no electronic swiping trail] then there is no proof that the cardholder initiated the charge and it must be refunded.
in addition, most states have laws that allow a person to change their mind and request a refund within a certain number of days. the business MUST grant it. credit card companies are extremely cooperative with their cardholders when it comes to stuff like this. all you have to do is call and say ‘hey, i’ve got a charge on my statement that i didn’t make’ and they’ll take care of everything.