Contrary to what has been said (above) many times about signing credit cards, Straight Dope advises:
"Don't sign it. It's useless as a deterrent, as anyone who takes your card then has a sample of your signature which they can not only use on any charge slip, but on your checks as well. However, do not leave the white strip blank. In that space, write: "Ask For Picture ID," and be prepared to back that up someday when you're in a hurry and the clerk wants to see a driver's license as well as the card. It makes the charge transaction a little longer, but a lot safer."
The way I see it, if the card is signed, the thief might copy your singature; if it is not signed and just written with "ask for ID", it might still be successfully used if the cashier doesn't really care since it may not be part of their store's SOP.In Germany, I have found that most (not all) cashiers ask for an ID and compares the singatures on the ID and the card. Some stores even have signs that says credit card transactions are only allowed if you have an ID to present. Hopefully, this kind of double-checking will soon be done everywhere else.
via LifeHacker
[photo source]
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