I got a letter from Wells Fargo bank with a new credit card, today. Nothing out of the ordinary in that respect, but the extent Wells Fargo failed in the process is pretty remarkable.
The first page was all the stuff you'd expect - credit card glued on, as well as account number and other info, and instructions to use it. The second page is shown below (the back is completely blank):
Looks completely innocuous and generic, right? Except for that black block in the lower right that I filled in. There is a bar-code and, in 6 point font, a number of numbers (most that I don't recognize), including the credit card number itself. If you weren't looking for it, you would most certainly never have seen it.
The number of people who have thrown that page away without ever realizing it had their credit card number on it is surely uncountable. Funny how a page about guarding against fraud sets you up perfectly for fraud by printing entirely unnecessary sensitive information on a completely generic page (that would have been cheaper to print without that information). You have to wonder if there's some malicious intent, there.
So, after the facepalm, I go online to activate the new card. After logging in and going to the activation page on Wells Fargo's (secure) web site, I'm met by this page:
Birth date? Work phone number? Really? It's been known for a long time that "security questions" are major security vulnerabilities, but this may just set a new record as to extent.
I can't say I can trust Wells Fargo after that rather brilliant display of insecurity.
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Saturday, January 23, 2010
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