Special Report: Taking the Credit

From clothes to food, or even the latest hi-tech gadget. You want it? You got it with a quick swipe of a credit card.

Shopper
"I prefer the convenience of having a credit card than having to carry a bunch of cash around."

While credit cards make our lives easy and convenient, if someone else uses your card it can turn your life upside down.

Shopper
"I think it's super easy, to like buy things with credit cards and they don't really check."

So, 7News decided to check, sending a female producer on a shopping spree using a credit card with a guy's name on it. First stop, a cup of coffee at one popular shop and a bagel at another. The producer was never asked for ID and didn't have to sign a thing. Next up, some cleaning supplies and a book, no questions asked.

Shopper
"Sometimes my boyfriend will sign for my bill on my credit card, you know, using his name and nobody ever seems to notice or really care."

Our producer then heads into a store and buys a watch. The cashier says the signature on the card is hard to read, and asks our producer for ID. But when she says she doesn't have any, the employee sells her the watch, anyway.

Shopper
"It's so easy just to ask for an ID."

Our shopping spree continues with office supplies, lunch and some groceries. Again, one quick swipe and the deal is done. At this clothing store the employee never even sees the credit card our producer uses. Then at our next stop, we decide to go for broke and buy a blue-ray disc player for over $600! And for the first time all day, the store employee refuses to make the sale without proper ID! But when we go to a different store in the same chain, our producer has no problem making the purchase.

Shopper
"Wow, that's pretty insane."

Shopper
"I wish actually, that if I'm buying $100, $200 worth of stuff perhaps they'd check my ID."

But some identity theft experts say there is a reason retailers might not check your ID.

Robert Siciliano, Identity Theft Expert
"Retailers don't really have much motivation to protect you or your credit card information."

Many credit card companies don't require store clerks to ask for ID, because they say credit cards are intended to be a fast form of payment. But, credit card companies do want stores to compare the signature on the back of the card to signature on the receipt.

So be patient when an employee checks your card and asks for ID.

Robert Siciliano, Identity Theft Expert
"When a retailer asks you for your form of identification, you should be happy that they are taking that extra layer of precaution."

Some good advice to protect your credit.

Many credit card companies have their own security systems in place to try to stop fraudulent purchases. During our shopping spree, the credit card company actually called to verify that the long list of charges we were making were authorized. Lauren Przybyl, 7News.

(Copyright (c) 2008 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)