Don’t Try this at Home “Credit Card Prank”

How many credit card pranks are there, really?  The most popular credit card prank out there right now goes to John Hargrove, who will probably end up applying for a trademark for the phrase, “Credit Card Prank.” As documented on the zug.com website, Hargrove has gone through numerous attempts at getting his charge denied based on his signature not matching the signature on the back of his personal credit card.  So far, he has not seemed to suffer negatively from this.

You could do this at home but the title of this article specifically warns you “don’t try this at home.”  In theory, what you could do is:

• sign your name with different handwriting as what’s on the back of your credit card

• scribble an intelligible signature

• sign somebody else’s name

• write a message instead of a name

• draw instead of writing your name

According to Hargrove, all of his charges went through.  What should you do if you are confronted with a signature that looks nothing like the one on the back of your card?

• Tell the clerk that you were drunk or sober (i.e. had the shakes) when you originally signed the card.  If the clerk has watched “Leaving Las Vegas” then he or she would probably understand.

• Tell the clerk that you have some degenerative nerve disease that is making handwriting a more difficult task for you.  Eventually, your dog will need push you around in a wheelchair; you will need to type messages out with a chopstick in your mouth.

• Tell the clerk you have had that card forever, like before you actually settled on a handwriting style. Remind them how everybody wrote back in grade school versus after graduating high school.  You were a late bloomer.

• Pretend you have had another hand cramp.  Wait for it to pass and then sign the receipt again in the correct manner.

If none of these outs work for you, do not say that I did not warn you not to try this credit card prank at home.

Another type of credit card prank that comes to my mind that would probably be just as funny but would have minimal risk to your own legal status would be to call in the card of a acquaintance as lost or stolen.  Preferably do this right after you join him or her for dinner out.  But only do this if you are certain that he or she has access to cash with which they can pay for dinner. Otherwise, you might be stuck with the bill.

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