Re:Senators push to ditch social security numbers in light o...
by PeterisP on Thursday November 09, 2017 @02:41AM
(#15660600)
The key limitation is that you'd have to have proper ID.
Forging or getting a fake ID is harder than counterfeiting money (maybe accessible to organized crime, but certainly not worth the cost/effort/risk just to steal a few thousand dollars); lost/stolen IDs have a registry that all the banks check; and you have to show up in person so if detected you don't get a second chance, you're leaving the building in handcuffs.
Seriously, the only problem with IDs I recall from banking was the use of IDs bought off of homeless people to register shell companies for money laundering, but those were real IDs and usually with the real owner "hired" for the initial account opening.
Forging or getting a fake ID is harder than counterfeiting money (maybe accessible to organized crime, but certainly not worth the cost/effort/risk just to steal a few thousand dollars); lost/stolen IDs have a registry that all the banks check; and you have to show up in person so if detected you don't get a second chance, you're leaving the building in handcuffs.
Seriously, the only problem with IDs I recall from banking was the use of IDs bought off of homeless people to register shell companies for money laundering, but those were real IDs and usually with the real owner "hired" for the initial account opening.