Everyone knows I am a stickler when it comes to the free pizza but this story just takes free pizza to a new level for social engineers, scam artists and con-men.
Most of us have probably done this:
You are hungry, so you call your local pizza place, realize you have no cash, so you tell the guy on the phone you need to pay with your credit card.
You read off the numbers tell him to put a few dollars on there for tip then chill a couple beers and wait.
This is what Brent did too. He called his local Dominoes and ordered a pizza… here is his story:
“The other day I had a pizza delivered to my home using my Visa. When the pizza arrived, however, the driver refused to give it to me unless I either gave him my social security number or let him write down my driver’s license number. I refused because of identity-theft and general privacy concerns. I offered to show him my driver’s license and the Visa card I’d used to order the pizza, but he said he had to write down one or the other number.
When I called the local Domino’s about this, I was told that drivers are now required to get the information because, she said, people have been ordering pizzas with stolen credit cards. Why showing that my license and Visa matched wasn’t sufficient, she couldn’t say.”
Fortunately, this guy knew well enough to forgo the hunger pangs and not give out his social security number. There is a good lesson here, I am not personally sure if Dominoes Corporate says this is their policy or not, but what I do know is that this is definitely a dangerous policy.
Anytime someone asks for our social security number to complete a purchase we should be leery. At most, a company may require a drivers license or some other ID to prove you are who you say you are. But, considering you can go online and buy almost anything with any credit card, it seems odd that a pizza guy would want a social security number.
The lesson: Stay Educated, be cautious, think ahead and never give out person details too easily.