Okay, so you're setting up a payment system and you need to punch in a fake credit card number. You can always go with the familiar standby, 4111111111111111, but the truth is any sequence of numbers will work so long as it conforms to the
Luhn algorithm (occasionally also referred to as "Mod 10", since it involves
modulo operations). If you don't want to work the algorithm out with a paper and pencil, you can just use
Credit Card Generator [now available in JavaScript] developed by Graham King. How is any of this interesting? Well, he
also provided a page of
already generated credit card numbers with
predictable, yet
hilarious, results. In response, one person offered a
foolproof method of getting your hands on a valid credit card number and a CVV2 code.
posted by Deathalicious
on Dec 30, 2008 -
28 comments
Frontline's: Secret History of the Credit Card Includes alot of useful and less than well known information like "universal default" clauses that allow your credit card company to raise your interest rate when you're late on a payment to
another creditor and there's no limit to the late charges a credit company can lay on you as well as no limit on the interest rate they hit you with. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Of particular interest:
credit scores explained and an
examination of credit responsibility. There are also interviews with lawmakers (including the infamous
Bill Janklow). Not sure how well versed you are on credit card info? Take the
quiz and find out. (I did badly).
posted by fenriq
on Dec 20, 2004 -
21 comments
The Credit Card Prank is a project to see how far one could go with their signature on credit card purchases. The experiment goes pretty far and barely runs into any snags. The verdict? People don't seem to care what you sign on a receipt.
posted by mathowie
on Jun 3, 2003 -
72 comments
Poverty is Expensive (part 59) The "i-Gen" prepaid MasterCard, available at a Rite-Aid near you, for those who don't have bank accounts (for debit cards) to say the least of credit ratings sufficient to get credit cards. Pay a $10.00 upfront fee, pay another $5 a month plus a "reload" fee of at least $5 every time your card runs down, all for the privilege of letting them hold on to your cash at no interest.
posted by MattD
on Jul 7, 2002 -
28 comments
No VC after the dot-com bust? No problem! Just sign up for eight no-annual-fee credit cards with interest rates as low as 1.7 percent (for a few months, anyway), and shazam: You've got $35,000; you're a start-up! Question: Has this guy read a newspaper in, say, the last 18 months?
posted by nathanstack
on Jan 14, 2002 -
15 comments
Currently, consumer
personal debt is at an all time high, and at the same time we're being inundated with ads asking us to "
live richly" and pay for all those "
priceless" moments with credit. Credit card companies have maintained a steady stream of advertising that focuses on living in the now, and worrying about the consequences later. Without discounting personal responsibility, should credit card companies be left to advertise their message unfettered, or does anyone think they are
too good and perhaps somewhat responsible for the high consumer debt levels?
posted by mathowie
on Jun 20, 2001 -
51 comments
If your web site is hosted by ADDR.com, you need to read
this MSNBC report immediately. Passwords and credit card numbers appear to have been stolen.
posted by netbros
on Apr 2, 2001 -
3 comments
The End of Money Interesting article about what money really means in the digital age. "If you want currency backed by something tangible, sign up for 5,000 frequent flier miles on a new Visa card. "
posted by zeoslap
on Feb 22, 2001 -
9 comments
A guy paid $5000 to a bank for a list of 4 million credit card numbers, complete with name/address of the owners. He proceeded to start making false charges to those cards totalling some $37 million. He's going to jail. My question is, what the
hell was the bank thinking? Why are they selling something like that? Didn't they recognize the potential for abuse? What possible legitimate use could such a list have?
posted by Steven Den Beste
on Jan 23, 2001 -
8 comments
AIPAC Hacked, Credit Card numbers exposed. This morning the Web site of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was defaced by Doctor Nuker of the
Pakistan Hackerz Club. I didn't think anything of it which was why I missed getting the mirror the first time around.
Apparently this is a pretty large organization according to my co-worker, a former Washingtonite. It's the biggest American Jewish lobbying organization in the US from what I hear... which is going to piss people off when they realize their credit card information was leaked in the defacement.
posted by bkdelong
on Nov 2, 2000 -
0 comments
Western Union's site is down, as
hackers have accessed their "secure" database. Western Union's only suggestion so far is to tell all customers to cancel their credit card accounts. Is anything
really secure on the internet? Do you trust amazon to hold your credit card numbers, Wells Fargo to keep your checking account private, and Kozmo employees not to pilfer your credit card numbers for fun?
posted by mathowie
on Sep 10, 2000 -
8 comments
