In article >,
"limey" > wrote:

> When shopping and handing over my credit card and signing the charge slip, I
> often ask the clerk, "Did you check the signatures, to see if they match?"
> I'm always greeted with the same puzzled look. Scary. Try it sometime.

I've seen them check the signatures in many places, but the thought that
keeps occurring to me is, do they even know what they're looking for? My
signature on my card was done more carefully than the rush-job I do on
receipts in the store, but no one's ever said anything. And would the
cashier have the nerve to say something if they thought it didn't match?


Here's one for the idiot file:
A friend of mine used to own a hardware store. I was there one day,
chatting with him, when a woman in her mid-thirties came in, wearing a
cap with the logo of a local county police department.

She paid for her purchase with a credit card. My friend checked the
signatures, and said to her, "the credit card doesn't have a signature
on it. I'll have to see some ID."

With a little triumphant smile, the woman said, "See? That's a police
trick. Don't sign your credit cards. If someone steals 'em, they'll have
to show ID before they can use 'em."

Me: "Well, no. They'll just sign the back of the credit cards. That way,
the signatures will match and they won't be caught."

She: "They can't do that!"

Me: "Of course they can. They have your credit card in their hands. They
can do whatever they want to it."

The look on her face was comical.

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