5 ms·
But the tax number isn't secret right? So that doesn't do much? What is proof of residence? A copy of your apartment lease or something like that?
by harryh 9y ago
But the tax number isn't secret right? So that doesn't do much?
What is proof of residence? A copy of your apartment lease or something like that?
- StavrosK 9y agoYes, the tax number isn't secret, it's just to prove that you know it and so they can correlate your tax situation, I think. The biggest proof is the identity document, which is not trivial to forge. Proof of residence is a copy of your lease, or a bill by a power or phone company, basically a piece of formal correspondence with your address on it, so you can sort of prove you live where you say. The bank photocopies all this, so if you forge an ID card to include your photo, they store the photo too, and if you get caught you're in deep trouble, as forgery is a serious crime. I think that's actually what prevents most identity theft here.
- harryh 9y agoYa, so I think the big difference between Europe and the US is that you can open a lot of accounts online in the US so there is no opportunity to examine and copy a physical ID card. I can definitely see how that would raise the difficult of pretending to be someone else.
- kuschku 9y agoI just opened a bank account in Germany via an app. I had a choice between either using my eID for verification, or doing a video call and showing the ID into the camera (in a way that their systems can automatically verify the security measures). It took 20 minutes to go from nothing to having an account, and being able to move money to ans from it.
- kaybe 9y agoPlus there is an option where you either go to the local post office or the postman comes and verifies your ID.
- ryanlol 9y ago>The biggest proof is the identity document, which is not trivial to forge. But it's usually trivial to purchase a forgery.
- wmf 9y agoStill, requiring criminals to buy forged IDs is much more friction than not even asking for ID, as happens in the US.
- silversmith 9y agoIf someone is targeting you and especially you, I assume it wouldn't be super complicated. However, purchasing a thousand SSNs and automating signups sounds hell of a lot easier than purchasing a thousand passports and physically visiting the bank offices.
- kuschku 9y agoIf you have a way to circumvent the electronic signing solution used by most European eIDs, then nothing stops you anyway.
- ryanlol 9y agoNobody would ever question a broken chip. I don't think they even read them in most places, perhaps Estonia? (before the Infineon thing anyway)
- Luc 9y agoBanks, police, city administration, doctors, pharmacies, insurance - those are the reasons I've pulled out my ID card in the past 10 years, and every single time it was to read the chip, with barely a passing glance given to the card itself.
- ryanlol 9y agoI suppose you'd just use a passport instead then? Or do they actually verify those too?
- espadrine 9y agoIn France, the institutions emitting the proofs of residence add a 2D-Doc, a flashcode printed on the document that includes the key information, signed with the institution's private key. https://ants.gouv.fr/Les-solutions/2D-Doc https://ants.gouv.fr/Les-solutions/2D-Doc Translated: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fants.gouv.fr%2FLes-solutions%2F2D-Doc&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pr...
- EADGBE 9y agoProof of residence makes it seem like it's not automated. Is the credit card approval process not automated there?
- cr1895 9y ago>What is proof of residence? At least within the Netherlands, your residence is officially registered with the municipality. This is tied in with your Citizen Service Number (BSN). Without this, you cannot open a bank account.
- vorotato 9y agoand I bet you can't get a residence without a bank account huh.