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Millionaire finds credit card. Buys pizza.

Mar 10, 2011#1

Dave

http://southflorida.sun-sentinel.com/news/os-stealing-dentist-20110306,0,6305022.story

Millionaire dude finds a credit card in a parking lot. So he does what any millionaire would do - he used the card to buy pizza in the shop where he found the card. The person who lost it is a US veteran college student who found out he lost it, called the credit card company to have it canceled and they told him it had been used. So he calls the cops and they catch the millionaire still at the pizza place waiting for his order. He had $250 in his wallet in cash.

When questioned by the cops he admitted to it, laughed at the suggestion he was in need of money and really didn't seem to give a shit.

This morning I found a credit card in my work's parking lot. You know what I did with it? Found the person it belonged to and gave it to them. She wasn't even aware she had dropped it.

WTF would make someone do this, especially if they didn't need the money?

Mar 10, 2011#2

ThatGrinningIdiot!

Greed and overconfidence, and a sheer disdain for your fellow man.

Mar 10, 2011#3

Krisken

People whine about poor people and a sense of entitlement. I think they are whining about the wrong group of people. Rich people feel much more entitled to what everyone else has.

Mar 10, 2011#4

Chibibar

I read that article before but was too disgusted to post it here.

Mar 10, 2011#5

SpecialKO

Maybe he was buying a million-dollar pizza?
...
...
:rimshot:

Mar 10, 2011#6

Jay

Nothing beats the feeling of free pizza.

Mar 10, 2011#7

Jiarn

He knew he could get away with it. Plain and simple.

Mar 10, 2011#8

sixpackshaker

Now you know why there are millionaires in the world... they use other people's money.

Mar 10, 2011#9

Jiarn

Everyday at work I complain about penny pinching rich people, I hear the same thing "And that's why they have money". Pfft, whatever.

Mar 10, 2011#10

@Li3n

Well the crumbs from that pizza are gonna trickle down to you poor people eventually.

BTW, don't you need to enter a 4 digit code to buy stuff with your credit card if you're doing it in person and not over the net in the US?

Dave said:
This morning I found a credit card in my work's parking lot. You know what I did with it? Found the person it belonged to and gave it to them. She wasn't even aware she had dropped it.

And that's why you're not a millionaire...

Mar 10, 2011#11

Jiarn

You don't need a 4 digit code if you swipe the card as "credit" instead of "debit". The cashier is supposed then request to see your ID to confirm the names match but 9 times out of 10, they just swipe it and have you sign a slip of paper.

Mar 10, 2011#12

@Li3n

Oh, so incurring debt isn't the same as spending your money and requires less security... man that's screwed up...

Mar 10, 2011#13

Jiarn

It's not even incurring debt. If you run it as "credit", it still debits your account for the amount of the transaction. I've been in banking for 3 years and haven't found a single difference between "credit" or "debit" when using a debit card, other than it usually takes 1-2 days long to clear from a pending status when you run it as "credit". The only thing I can fathom is that when you run it as credit, the credit card issuer gets some kind of demographic information they can use.

Mar 10, 2011#14

Ravenpoe

Jiarn said:
You don't need a 4 digit code if you swipe the card as "credit" instead of "debit". The cashier is supposed then request to see your ID to confirm the names match but 9 times out of 10, they just swipe it and have you sign a slip of paper.

If it's a visa card, visa actually asks that you not check id unless the customer has signed "please see id," the logic being they don't want to inconvenience their customers.

Mar 10, 2011#15

sixpackshaker

I hope they run that article in his home town. I wonder what that would do to his practice. I know I would not hand my credit card over to him. Then I wonder if he has paid his student loans back.

Harrun Majeed? really? that white douche could pass with that name with out the cashier wanting to see his license?

Mar 10, 2011#16

ScytheRexx

What? A rich person taking advantage of a poor person for his own personal gain and to further his wealth? That never happens in America.

Mar 10, 2011#17

sixpackshaker

For running a debit card as a credit card, I do that at places I feel are a little bit shady. There is a little more protection coming from Visa if the card gets copied and used as credit than if it gets copied and used with my PIN#.

Mar 10, 2011#18

PatrThom

If there is a signature on the back of the card, then asking for ID on top of that is technically a violation of the merchant agreement. Most cards these days even go further by stating "This card not valid unless signed," which means the merchant is supposed to refuse the card if it is not signed (since that signature is what constitutes the customer's acknowledgement of the cardholder agreement). Conversely, if the customer chooses "debit" you are not supposed to ask to see the signature...the 4-digit code counts as their signature.

Jiarn said:
Everyday at work I complain about penny pinching rich people, I hear the same thing "And that's why they have money". Pfft, whatever.

Yep. You don't get to be a millionaire by being generous, that's for sure. It's all about taking advantage of opportunities, even if they do raise a few eyebrows.

Edit:

Jiarn said:
The only thing I can fathom is that when you run it as credit, the credit card issuer gets some kind of demographic information they can use.

When run as debit, the merchant pays the transaction processing fee (to Visa/MC). When run as credit, the bank pays that fee (to Visa/MC). That fee is one of the reasons gas costs more on a card than it does with cash. It might also be why you get more reward points (from the bank) when you pay with credit, and why the bank charges a fee when you pay by debit (but not credit...at least that's how it is at my bank).

--Patrick

Mar 10, 2011#19

@Li3n

Jiarn said:
It's not even incurring debt. If you run it as "credit", it still debits your account for the amount of the transaction. I've been in banking for 3 years and haven't found a single difference between "credit" or "debit" when using a debit card, other than it usually takes 1-2 days long to clear from a pending status when you run it as "credit". The only thing I can fathom is that when you run it as credit, the credit card issuer gets some kind of demographic information they can use.

Well of course, the bank has no advantage is you owe them money... so they collect as soon as possible.

Mar 10, 2011#20

ThatNickGuy

You think he got rich by being nice? Nuh uh.

Mar 10, 2011#21

drawn_inward

It doesn't really matter that the guy is rich. There are rich scumbags. There are poor scumbags. There are men scumbags. There are women scumbags. There are black scumbags. There are white scumbags. There are gay scumbags. There are straight scumbags. There are religious scumbags. There are non-religious scumbags. ETC. ETC. ETC.

If you are an asshole, it doesn't really matter what category you fall in. You will always be an asshole.

Mar 10, 2011#22

Shakey

PatrThom said:
When run as debit, the merchant pays the transaction processing fee (to Visa/MC). When run as credit, the bank pays that fee (to Visa/MC). That fee is one of the reasons gas costs more on a card than it does with cash. It might also be why you get more reward points (from the bank) when you pay with credit, and why the bank charges a fee when you pay by debit (but not credit...at least that's how it is at my bank).

--Patrick

Actually the bank always gets money for transactions, and the merchant always pays the fee. With a debit transaction, that fee is less for the merchant and the bank gets paid less. That's why some merchants try to automatically run them as debit transactions unless you press cancel. It's actually going to change soon though. Part of the credit card reforms includes lowering the fees collected for credit transactions. So expect more fees from the bank to make up for it.

It's also a violation if they charge different prices for Visa and cash transaction, same with requiring a minimum purchase amount.

Mar 10, 2011#23

strawman

Payments under $25 don't require signatures anymore either, as long as the card is present and signed.

So no, no pin, and no signature are required for most fast food purchases. Plop the card on the counter and use it.

Mar 10, 2011#24

Espy

I honestly don't know why they don't just put a photo of you on all credit/debit cards. It won't stop identity theft but it would be helpful.

Mar 10, 2011#25

strawman

The newest phones are going to have NFC - Near Field Communications, which is a new branding of RFID. The idea is that you'll store your credit cards on your phone itself. You type a pin into the phone, select the card for the phone to emulate, and bring it close to the reader (many credit cards and credit card readers now support RFID).

With all your credit cards on the phone, and a pin or password to protect them from being used should you lose your phone, and phones including GPS and tracking services, I suspect that we'll have fewer problems in the future. And the problems we will have will be far more interesting...

Mar 10, 2011#26

Espy

First Lady Puffinstuff said:
And the problems we will have will be far more interesting...

So true. They were talking on NPR a bit ago about how 97% of identity theft is never actually dealt with by authorities, that there just really isn't anything they can do about it.

Mar 10, 2011#27

Jiarn

Espy said:
I honestly don't know why they don't just put a photo of you on all credit/debit cards. It won't stop identity theft but it would be helpful.

They did this a while back, it didn't help defraud at all. From what I understand, people found it easier to just doctor the photo on the credit card and never be asked for ID or PIN numbers.

Mar 10, 2011#28

Shakey

I have a photo and signature on my card, but it does very little. Most of the places never look at your card, since you swipe it yourself. Also a good portion of the CC fraud is done by reprogramming those visa gift cards with a card number they bought off someone else.

Mar 10, 2011#29

Morphine

what @drawn_inward said, pretty much. When you're an ass, you're an ass. Doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank.

What's the worst that could happen to him, though? Is he doing time?

Mar 10, 2011#30

sixpackshaker

Morphine said:
what @drawn_inward said, pretty much. When you're an ass, you're an ass. Doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank.

What's the worst that could happen to him, though? Is he doing time?

For stealing $40 he will likely face a small fine, maybe spend a night in jail with the other offenses. The punishment will come to the loss of his clientele once the news breaks in his home town.

Mar 10, 2011#31

Dave

He's also getting hit with forgery charges.

But yeah, he;'ll have lawyer money and the state won't bother going after him for $40 so they'll do the wrist-slap two step and he'll get away fine.

Mar 10, 2011#32

sixpackshaker

I wonder how his State's Medical/Dental Board is going to handle him being charged with felonies.

Mar 10, 2011#33

Vagabond

So what happened to that pizza?

Mar 10, 2011#34

North_Ranger

Fucking douchebag.

Mar 10, 2011#35

PatrThom

Shakey said:
same with requiring a minimum purchase amount.

That was actually repealed recently. Minimum purchase is no longer a violation. Sorta.

--Patrick

Mar 10, 2011#36

LittleSin

Is there a difference between debit and credit cards in the States?

I thought a debit card took money straight from your personal savings/chequing account while a credit card borrowed money from visa/mastercard to be paid at a later time?

Mar 10, 2011#37

figmentPez

LittleSin said:
Is there a difference between debit and credit cards in the States?

I thought a debit card took money straight from your personal savings/chequing account while a credit card borrowed money from visa/mastercard to be paid at a later time?

Yeah, there are lots of differences, but the line is kinda fuzzy in some areas. Debit cards do take from a bank account, and credit cards are still borrowed money, but debit cards can sometimes be run as if they were a credit card (and possibly vice versa). Consumer liability for fraud is different between the two, as are many other laws. The whole card system is seriously messed up.

Mar 10, 2011#38

Mathias

pffttt... all you hypocrites..

If that poor dude dropped 50 bucks, and you found it wouldn't you keep it despite having 250 in your wallet?

Mar 10, 2011#39

MindDetective

If the poor dude's name was on the 50 bucks and a phone number I could use to try and contact someone who could find him? I don't think I'd keep it then, no.

Mar 10, 2011#40

Jiarn

I dunno, reason I wouldn't have used the credit card is because I know how easy it is to get busted, not the morality. So yeah, I'd have kept the $50.

Now if I was a millionaire? Nope.

Mar 10, 2011#41

Espy

MindDetective said:
If the poor dude's name was on the 50 bucks and a phone number I could use to try and contact someone who could find him? I don't think I'd keep it then, no.

Stop being such a hypocrite you hypocrite. :mad:

Mar 10, 2011#42

MindDetective

Espy said:
Stop being such a hypocrite you hypocrite.

I'm just doing it to be ironic, man.

Mar 10, 2011#43

Tress

MindDetective said:
I'm just doing it to be ironic, man.

Ewww, it's a hipster! BURN IT! BURN IT!

Mar 10, 2011#44

SpecialKO

Being ironic is so over.

Mar 10, 2011#45

Mathias

Jiarn said:
I dunno, reason I wouldn't have used the credit card is because I know how easy it is to get busted, not the morality. So yeah, I'd have kept the $50.

Now if I was a millionaire? Nope.

I think the guy figured something similar. He probably thought he had enough time to get a pizza and then toss the card.

Mar 10, 2011#46

Espy

MindDetective said:
I'm just doing it to be ironic, man.

I knew it!

Mar 10, 2011#47

MindDetective

Mar 10, 2011#48

Shakey

PatrThom said:
That was actually repealed recently. Minimum purchase is no longer a violation. Sorta.

--Patrick

Ah, didn't know that. Dodd-Frank bill changed a lot. Either way, those rules were rarely enforced.

Mar 10, 2011#49

Cajungal

ScytheRexx said:
What? A rich person taking advantage of a poor person for his own personal gain and to further his wealth? That never happens in anywhere where there are red-blooded humans.

Mar 11, 2011#50

@Li3n

drawn_inward said:
It doesn't really matter that the guy is rich. There are rich scumbags. There are poor scumbags. There are men scumbags. There are women scumbags. There are black scumbags. There are white scumbags. There are gay scumbags. There are straight scumbags. There are religious scumbags. There are non-religious scumbags. ETC. ETC. ETC.

If you are an asshole, it doesn't really matter what category you fall in. You will always be an asshole.

Yeah, but as human beings even assholes tend to rationalize their behaviour with things like "well i need it more then the owner" etc.

This guy was just doing it for shit and giggles... that's beyond asshole and into 4channer territory.

Jiarn said:
I dunno, reason I wouldn't have used the credit card is because I know how easy it is to get busted, not the morality. So yeah, I'd have kept the $50.

Yeah, but you play MMO's, so we already know you're an awful person...

Mar 11, 2011#51

Jiarn

MMOs are the least reason I'm an awful person, but definitely a good reason.

Mar 11, 2011#52

sixpackshaker

Mathias said:
pffttt... all you hypocrites..

If that poor dude dropped 50 bucks, and you found it wouldn't you keep it despite having 250 in your wallet?

Unless you see the guy drop it there is no way to find the owner.

I've given $400+ back before when I $30- in my wallet.

Mar 11, 2011#53

ScytheRexx

Losing $50 on the ground is not the same as losing a credit card. One has an easy way to identify the person that lost it, money does not usually have such an identifier. It's like when I accidentally left a 24-pack of coke on a shopping cart, I don't expect someone to know it was mine and send it back to me, but if I lost my phone with my name and number written on the back, I expect the person to not make long distance calls with it.

Even so when it comes to cash, I usually look around a bit to see if I notice anyone scanning the ground for something they lost, and if so ask them what they are looking for. If they say some money they dropped, I give it back to them. I am not going to keep something that does not belong to me unless the person has actually abandoned it.

Really, the issue is not that some rich guy was using lost "money", it's the fact he was using another persons "money" knowing full well the name and contact info of the person that lost it. He might as well have been taking it out of the guys pocket. (or the pocket of the credit card company, if his intention was to buy the pizzas and get out knowing the guy would dispute the charge and hopefully get it removed).

Mar 11, 2011#54