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I recently made a purchase on a website that asked for my Drivers license or government ID. I gave them a Drivers license photo I covered my license number and DD number but the license number can be decoded using an online tool (with the info I gave them).

Should I be worried that my identity can be stolen? The only info I gave them was my full name, address and birthday and other info about myself on a drivers license like eye color and height. It was only a picture of the front of the ID. The back with a other information is still not known to the seller.

So should I be worried? Or is it just a company trying to protect themselves from Paypal chargebacks?

Extra Information(my reasoning why I gave them my ID) Using this as a reference(I didn't think you can steal someone's identity with just there name,address,date of birth): "The truth is, an imposter can use your Driver's License (DL#) or State ID number to impersonate you. ... The thing you need to keep in mind is that the only piece of information that is needed is your DL# or state ID#. Your name, address, DOB etc. is not needed to steal your identity."(Reference)

I made a purchase of virtual game items.

I want to mention one last piece of information. I did not show the DD of the license and I did a bit of research and apparently it helps against fraud.

Alaa
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  • That's all the info you need to steal someone's identiy. – schroeder Dec 09 '17 at 15:56
  • @schroeder Sorry for the misunderstanding. It's sort of both a question of is the company trustworthy and how bad is it to give a company my Drivers license? It was a company on the second link of google and that is why I went to buy a product from them. – Alaa Dec 09 '17 at 16:09
  • Unfortunately, we cannot provide a review of a site's trustworthiness. – schroeder Dec 09 '17 at 16:17
  • I’m curious why they requested that information. I remember when people used to pay by check more often the merchant would write down the license number on the check. – Rich Dec 09 '17 at 16:19
  • @Rich I believe it is to prevent chargebacks. – Alaa Dec 09 '17 at 16:20
  • @schroeder I added a bit of my reasoning as to why I gave them my license. On a identity info resource website it says it doesn't matter if a somone has your name or DOB. Only if they have your License#, but my license# i found out can be easily decoded, And I feel like that is insecure. – Alaa Dec 09 '17 at 16:21
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    I think there is one more relevant piece of information: what was the website or what were you buying? If you were buying ammo online this wouldn't surprise me. If you were buying viagra from a website that you found out about through a spam email, I would check all your credit reports and then freeze your credit **yesterday**. – Conor Mancone Dec 09 '17 at 17:22
  • @ConorMancone I purchased virtual game items. Nothing illegal, but they are against the in game rules. (Runescape gold coins). Also I kind of only have one credit card and I don't ever use it. And it wasn't from a spam email it is the second link on google that sells these virtual items. – Alaa Dec 09 '17 at 17:53

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I'd be curious why they need an ID. Are you buying something where you need to be of a certain age? Do they have restricted buyers? In the US, you need to be 21 to purchase alcohol and you need to be 18 (and not a felon) to purchase ammunition or firearms. Buying either of those online doesn't sound like a good idea, IMHO. Otherwise, I'd be very suspicious of these terms. What conceivable need would they have for this information? Even with credit cards, the merchant gets paid - the card company eats the cost if the transaction is fraudulent. I'm not sure about how PayPal works in that respect , though.

I'd suggest playing it safe and keep an eye on your credit bureau report for a little while.

If a bad guy has your name, address, and DOB he can do a lot. He can forward your mail and start sifting through it to gain more info. He can start looking around local counties and see if he can find your birth certificate and from there, the sky's the limit. There's more info on the risk with your date of birth here.

baldPrussian
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