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In the US and many other places, prepaid cards are not anonymous. IIRC you need ID of some kind to buy them in Germany, for example (similarly for SIM cards)
by beagle3 12y ago
In the US and many other places, prepaid cards are not anonymous. IIRC you need ID of some kind to buy them in Germany, for example (similarly for SIM cards)
- driverdan 12y agoYou do not need an ID to get a prepaid card in the US.
- beagle3 12y agoTrue, but they are not technically anonymous - you have to provide a name and address. And while the average person will not care, I'm sure an enterprising US district attorney will find a way to pile CFAA and other charges for providing wrong details on a prepaid card if they already are trying to nail you.
- click170 12y agoYou can buy a prepaid card in most local grocery stores in Canada, no personal info required - though you can't buy a prepaid card with a prepaid card.
- beagle3 12y agoInteresting ... what's the logic in that? Can you use it to get money (ATM or cashback)? I assume so, in which case this restriction makes it extra stupid.
- click170 12y agoI always assumed money-laundering was what they were trying to protect against. At first I figured if it was possible to buy a gift card with a gift card they wouldn't be able to track that very easily / as easily. But then, what about cash. So it does seem like kind of a moot point to me, maybe someone in Finance can explain the reasoning better?
- click170 12y agoTo clarify, no you can't use it at the ATM or to get cash back.