is it possible to be anonymous with a credit card?

[Irtwo]

So many posters here have clever ideas for keeping their privacy, I'm hoping someone has ideas on this. I wanted to sign up for a cam site, but they ask for your credit card to buy time. Is there a way to use a credit card with a different name on it? I understand there are prepaid cards that don't have a name attached, but will a website accept those?

 

By the way, this isn't because I'm worried about how it would show up on my bill, I know they bill it as something innocuous, it's more that I don't want my real name on their customer list.

[+ FreshFluff]

You're smart to think about that in advance rather than using your real CC when all the blood is in your little brain.:o

 

You can use cash to buy prepaid credit cards from both major credit card companies. Some cards have to be registered, which means entering a name. But it can be a fake one.

[Bosguy]

Great question. I'm looking forward to the responses myself.

 

Boston Bill

[+ azdr0710]

By the way, this isn't because I'm worried about how it would show up on my bill, I know they bill it as something innocuous, it's more that I don't want my real name on their customer list.

 

 

exactly my concern, too.....but I already have signed up for various adult sites with my real credit card and have seen no apparent problems.....occasional emailed ads, of course....I figure there are many, many dozens of thousands of names out there on customer lists and only if I am being, for some reason, legally investigated (outside the adult entertainment world) would anybody even try to find my name on a list....

[craigville beach]

I have signed up for one site using a prepaid visa card that i picked up at cvs.

[jakeleyman]

I signed up for one site using my personal cc. To my shock, the cc company called me and asked if it were me signing up for that site since "it did not fit my pattern". I told them yes. Since then, my card has been compromised once and they sent another card, but I cannot verify if it is related to my using it on that site. Also, I have received many sex-related ads which I notice go directly to my spam file. I will be interested in responses on this site. I wish I had not used my personal cc.

[Guy Fawkes]

Some of the donations for the site arrive as gift cards. I tend to put them literally in a small treasure chest and use them at the supermarket when I'm in one of the lean months. I've never had a problem and never have been declined.

 

However, I'v never tried to use it for an Adult site, but hummmm..... I may just have to try an experiment. Now if only I could find a site that doesn't promote BB.

 

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01524/computer_1524813c.jpg

[+ deej]

The short answer is no. It's why identity theft is such a big problem. People (err, thieves) want your CC number but they can't use it without enough information about you to place a charge as you.

 

As others have said, you can use a prepaid debit card but that's going to have other issues. Among them, you'll need a name/address that will pass through whatever verification process they use and it's just as tuned to fraud as the processing on your normal CC would be. (I also wouldn't be surprised to see porn sites turning down debit cards. The lion's share of their income is recurring subscription charges and those won't always go through on a debit card.)

 

It all goes back to what I've always said: if you're afraid of getting caught doing something you oughtn't be doing, then you oughtn't be doing it in the first place.

[jakeleyman]

Is that Daddy's picture on the white couch? Nice.

[+ deej]

Is that Daddy's picture on the white couch? Nice.

 

Um. Yeah. We'll go with that.

[tom1980]

I use a prepaid Visa for such things. You have to register it online and enter an address, but the street number/name don't seem to matter (unless you want them to send you a permanent card with your "name" on it, in which case you would need to enter an address where you can receive the permanent card). Generally only the zip code and 3 digit security code are used to confirm that the rightful owner is using the card. In my experience, about half the sites accept the cards and the rest do not. A few years ago, all the cards had expiration dates within 2-3 years, and I never had one declined. Now that they all have expiration dates several years out (some as many as 10 years in the future), I've noticed a larger number of sites declining them.

[Atomicshawn]

Have you looked into paying with BTC? There are lists of adult sites that now accept it. And yes, it's completely anonymous.

[instudiocity]

I signed up for one site using my personal cc. To my shock, the cc company called me and asked if it were me signing up for that site since "it did not fit my pattern". I told them yes. Since then, my card has been compromised once and they sent another card, but I cannot verify if it is related to my using it on that site. Also, I have received many sex-related ads which I notice go directly to my spam file. I will be interested in responses on this site. I wish I had not used my personal cc.

Betcha, you're talking about a gmail account...

[instudiocity]

I use a prepaid Visa for such things. You have to register it online and enter an address, but the street number/name don't seem to matter (unless you want them to send you a permanent card with your "name" on it, in which case you would need to enter an address where you can receive the permanent card). Generally only the zip code and 3 digit security code are used to confirm that the rightful owner is using the card. In my experience, about half the sites accept the cards and the rest do not. A few years ago, all the cards had expiration dates within 2-3 years, and I never had one declined. Now that they all have expiration dates several years out (some as many as 10 years in the future), I've noticed a larger number of sites declining them.

I've found that so long as the expiration date is over a year and less than three, even the gift cards with 10 year expirations still work. You just have to have a bit of gameplay to know they are looking for 2-3 year expirations...

[ctc2001]

I use pre-paid credit cards. A few years ago they were great, could use at any site like a regular CC, just use any name and address when asked, and could add funds to paypal with it. Now, I have to register the pre-paid card on the card's website and enter a name, address and phone number; of course none of the information I give is identifiable, the address I use is a well known local landmark (so I wont forget) and an easy to remember 10 digit number as the phone number. And like Tom1980 pointed out, more recently not all websites will allow pre-paid credit cards to be used when purchasing services.

 

Paypal is even making it hard too. I used to refill my "special, separate" paypal account with the pre-paid card, but now paypal wants accounts to be verified to be able to add a CC, this is done by using a real bank account (which I'm not doing).

 

I also use a VPN service and the "private" sessions on my web browser so that cookies, cache files and other tracking data are not saved/deleted upon the private session closing.

 

Like AtomicShawn mentioned, I'll probably have to start looking at virtual currency like Bit Coin, but not every site takes that.

[rvwnsd]

...but I already have signed up for various adult sites with my real credit card and have seen no apparent problems...

 

Although it is fairly common knowledge in the financial services industry that adult-themed web sites experience a high rate of disputed transactions, I haven't seen any reports indicating they experience a greater proportion of data breaches than any other type of web site. There was one breach well over a year ago, but nothing that I have read about recently. The high rate of disputes are believed to result from joint credit card accounts where cardholder "A" doesn't recognize cardholder "B's" transaction and cardholder "B," who knows full well what the transaction is, disputes the charge.

 

...occasional emailed ads, of course....I figure there are many, many dozens of thousands of names out there on customer lists and only if I am being, for some reason, legally investigated (outside the adult entertainment world) would anybody even try to find my name on a list....

 

Agreed.

 

I signed up for one site using my personal cc. To my shock, the cc company called me and asked if it were me signing up for that site since "it did not fit my pattern". I told them yes...

 

Although it is not unusual for credit card companies to contact cardholders about "out of pattern" charges, they are typically calling about large transactions and/or transactions that take place outside of your home geographical area. However, in light of the various data breaches that non-adult merchants have experienced, credit card companies might be suspicious of adult sites. However, on the handful of occasions where my card was compromised and used without my consent the merchants were not adult-themed.

 

...Since then, my card has been compromised once and they sent another card, but I cannot verify if it is related to my using it on that site. Also, I have received many sex-related ads which I notice go directly to my spam file. I will be interested in responses on this site. I wish I had not used my personal cc.

 

Given the huge number of data breaches at large, non-adult merchants, I doubt your card was compromised due to a breach at an adult site, unless the site's payment processor uses one of the credit card processors who have been breached. Heartland and Chase Card Services are the two that come to mind. However, I can do a little research and report back. I've been busy lately and haven't paid as much attention to payments as I have in the past because it isn't part of my professional world.

 

Have you looked into paying with BTC? There are lists of adult sites that now accept it. And yes, it's completely anonymous.

 

Don't count on Bitcoin being anonymous for very long. You know those drugs everyone says is a deal-breaker when contemplating whether to hire an escort? Laundering drug money is a snap when the various financial transactions are anonymous. Wells Fargo and other financial services organizations are looking at how they can service merchants who accept Bitcoin and the Fed is looking at how to prevent money laundering.

[Atomicshawn]

Sure, any currency can be used for criminal activities. As far as BTC goes, as long as you understand how to set up wallets and have wallets that are encrypted and backed up its a fairly safe method of transferring money anonymously. As long as you don't involve WELLS FARGO...then yes you're one step more in the direction of privacy and anonymity.