Identity Theft Made Easy

This past weekend, while at the mall, I was perusing a display case of my beloved Swarovski crystals, when I overheard the manager of the store taking a phone order from someone in a remote location. While I was perusing the cabinet, I overheard the store manager take the order, and then repeat back the person's name, address, phone number, credit card number and expiration date - loudly - in full earshot of half the store.

Wow.

In this day and age, with all the identity theft and credit card stealing that goes on, this was entirely irresponsible. What would the person placing the order think if he or she knew that their personal information was just announced to a busy store full of weekend shoppers ?

As someone who has had her credit card number stolen and misused a whopping three times, I could not remain silent. After the manager finished the phone call, I approached her. "I could have stolen that person's identity with all the details you just broadcasted throughout the store . You really shouldn't repeat that kind of information with customers around."

I hope she will heed my warning. There is no excuse for this kind of carelessness.