Borimol Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 In September 2005, the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency distributed a series of photographs showing Hurricane Katrina evacuee Latesha Vinnett and her daughter, Mychal Boykins, at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas. Ms. Vinnett had just received one of the many $2000 debit cards issued to Katrina evacuees by the Red Cross, which she happily displayed for the camera — providing a full view of the debit card's number and expiration date. The photos were carried by a number of news outlets (such as Yahoo! News) or published as an accompaniment to news articles about Hurricane Katrina, thereby broadcasting a supposedly valid debit card number to millions of viewers. A number of Internet-distributed rumors and spoofs have chided the participants (i.e., the cardholder, the photographer, AFP's photo editors) for all failing to realize they should have obscured at least a few numbers on the displayed card, and have posited wild spending sprees by hundreds of identity thieves that drove the debit card's balance to zero mere minutes after the photos were published. Although events may not have transpired in quite that spectacularly rapid a fashion, apparently the card number displayed was indeed used by fraudsters: [suzanne] Lynch [vice president for security and risk services at MasterCard International] said that as the Red Cross began issuing MasterCard debit cards to victims of Hurricane Katrina earlier this month, a newspaper photographer working on a story about the program took a picture of one recipient holding a card. The photo was quickly posted on the Internet web. "Within eight hours," Lynch said, "there was fraud on the card." "Somebody had seen the picture — and unfortunately they hadn't blocked the number — and so somebody used the card fraudulently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted October 16, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 16, 2005 This like this make me weep for humanity. Not only was it completely irresponsible to not blur out the numbers, but it was also horrible that someone would use the card after seeing it in the news. Apparantly stupidity and taking advantage of others are rampant in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
704 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Stupid meets stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Veteran Posted October 16, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 16, 2005 Apparantly stupidity and taking advantage of others are rampant in the world. 586680721[/snapback] Yes, it's a shame :no: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Patriot Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Most online merchants won't accept a credit card without the CVV2 number (which is on the back) and the proper billing address that is associated with the card. This kind of thing is exactly WHY they don't. The companies that accepted charges without that information are at least partially responsible for the illegal use of the card, just as a retail store would be if they didn't verify the identity of someone using a stolen credit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mx Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Very harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuz Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 seriously what is rong wif thsi world............ :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viserov Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 She's holding a baby, too. The guy who used the card for his own purposes should go to a "special" level of hell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Shows the mentality of someone who allows her card to be photographed IMHO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samg Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 can someone read the expiry date, its a little blury. joking... ...but the kind of thing so wacko would do. Some people really are sick. Oh, so you lost your house, town and possibly people you love, i know, i will also put you up $2000 of debt. Hell, i do need to replace my new plasma already! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsheron Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 seriously what is rong wif thsi world............ :cry: 586684106[/snapback] People think we evolved from monkeys, thats whats wrong. Trust me..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted October 18, 2005 MVC Share Posted October 18, 2005 ya its wrong for him to use the card, but who the hell shows the card number to the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman2000 Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Man what the hell is wrong with people, people in New Orleans lost everything and some idiots decide to take advantage of already helpless people. Stupid photographer should have blurred ot some of the numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webeagle12 Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Well I'm 99.9% sure that those debit card numbers were used on internet. FBI easily couldnt track those numbers down and look up who was ordering stuff, + where it was shipped too so it will not take do long before couple guys will start knocking into some people doors :pinch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob2687 Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Oops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code.Red Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Wow, that's just horrible. :no: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randolph Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Oops? 586692257[/snapback] LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamNeeds Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 AFP should pay the money back. They publised the photo and didnt blank out the obvious bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbandonedTrolley Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Makes you wonder how sick some people are out there. :no: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
704 Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 AFP should pay the money back. They publised the photo and didnt blank out the obvious bits. 586694246[/snapback] Why should they pay the money back? Honestly, what kind of idiot holds up a credit card to a camera? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Patriot Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 It's possible that the photographer assured the person that the card number would be hidden, but something went wrong, or they didn't think that the number would be clear enough to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdb815 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 ^ It's still not a very smart thing to do. :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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