Remember that old adage about foxes and henhouses? A company in New Jersey appears poised to become the guardian of fraud for low-income Alabamians, for the low price of $180 a year.
Consumer Data Service has received approval from the Alabama Public Service Commission to perform “third-party billing” for various businesses and properties. Specifically for the following business websites:
- http://myvoicemaildirect.com/ (petition pdf)
- http://evoiceconnect.com/ (petition pdf)
- http://idprotectionplus.com/ (petition pdf)
- http://myidsafeguard.com/ (petition pdf)
- http://fraudwatchguard.com/ (petition pdf)
- http://fraudalertguard.com/ (petition pdf)
The first two appear to be voicemail/communication consolidation services. Â VERY overpriced for what they claim to do. The other four are all identity-theft protection subscriptions. 15-bucks a month? What the hell?
Notice the slick websites, that all hawk the same services and promises, but targeted to different demographics (father-led household, mother-prominent household, single female, single male.) Also note that 15-bucks a freakin’ month is way too much. Would it surprise me to find out that all are shell companies for the same ownership as CDS?
Now, look at the website for Consumer Data Service:
“Online merchants will be able to increase their customer demographics by providing our billing services to consumers that don’t have, can’t have, or don’t use credit cards. This method allows merchants to optimize their revenue through consumer expansion.”
In other words, they make a business out of targeting the phone bills of people who would have a hard time getting credit cards.
Identity theft is a huge and growing problem, but is $180/year a good wager? And will the people having this “easy service” pushed on them going to have the wherewithal to calculate that risk?
