Did a couple of test drive last week, didn't think of it much when they asked to make copies of my licence, obviously they copied both sides to make sure address is current.
Then I realised that the back of the licence has the Card ID number, that can be used to reset Service NSW password, and possibly other things like sign up to phone plans, apply for credit cards, and even retrieve credit report.
Should there be a need for concern?
I know, right? Sometimes paranoia is justified.
Earlier this year I noticed a strange charge on my credit card, from a chemist in the States (drugstore as they called it over there), it was only a few dollar but enough to raise alarm. I contacted the bank immediately, they informed me that the card number was keyed in at the POS, indicating the physical card was either damaged or not present at the time.
Given that it was an in-store purchase (not online), it was obvious that the charge was fraudulent, the bank waived the charge and cancelled the card straightaway. A new card with a new number arrived in the mail a few days later, other than the hassle of updating direct debits, the matter ended there.
Thinking back, few days prior to the event I visited a travel agent in the CBD, at the time their EFPOS machine was offline so they called another branch to process the payment, the girl read out the numbers to let the other end to key them in. I have a hunch that "the other end" wrote down the numbers rather them punch them in directly, then they left that piece of paper/page of notebook on the counter for all to see. It's a travel agent, all sort of people come and go, quite possibly someone took a picture of it and did dodgy things.
They were malicious or negligent at best, but I have no evidence so did not take it further.
To think someone took a flight all the way to US and A just to buy drugs with your credit. I would've rewarded that guy's effort, he definitely went above and beyond.
It might not be the same guy or whoever that did it could have sold the information.
Also, I was told that it's quite common to "validate" a card at a chemist for small amounts, a) to trick the system to think that the charge might be for emergency medication, b) small amount is likely to go through and less noticeable by the card holder.
If unnoticed, they would continue low value charges at local fast food joints and grocery stores to trick the system to think that the card holder is present in the area. Eventually they will do a big hit charge.
What do you think the fraud prevention system will react if suddenly there's a $5,000 charge 15,000km away?
It's easier to just buy something small on ebay than to walk into a store…
They might have tried, but PayPal won't let you to use same credit card across multiple accounts.
Yes there is always a need for concern when sharing information.
Make sure the passwords you use everywhere are all different. Yes it's very difficult to keep track so write them all down.
I don't trust anyone at all but you want/need to drive the car and the only way of doing that is by handing over your licence. You have to take a risk somewhere. Keep an eye on everything that can be reset by using your licence number regularly but don't worry about it too much. You "should" be fine.