He Put His Money where His Mouth was.

treesmoke · 01-09-2008, 04:44 AM

TV star publishes bank details in anti-privacy editorial, gets ripped off
Posted by Cory Doctorow, January 7, 2008 10:26 PM | permalink
Jeremy Clarkson, a presenter for Top Gear on British TV, wrote a newspaper editorial that accused privacy activists of being hysterical over giant data-leaks (such as the British government repeatedly losing CDs bearing the financial details for 25 million households). To prove that identity theft wasn't a big deal, he included his bank account details in the article.

Whereupon someone promptly began making fraudulent withdrawals from his account.

Clarkson, 47, writing in his column in the Sunday Times, decried the furore last year after CDs disappeared containing the banking details of 7 million families.

The loss led to fears of mass identity theft with people's bank accounts open to internet scams.

At the time he wrote: "I have never known such a palaver about nothing. The fact is we happily hand over cheques to all sorts of unsavoury people all day long without a moment's thought. We have nothing to fear."

However, yesterday he told readers he had opened his bank statement to find a direct debit had been set up in his name and £500 taken out of his account.

"The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again," he said. "I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake."

Link

lost in melb. · 01-09-2008, 06:22 AM

it's like walking through brooklyn at night wailing"rob me"

**PorkChopSandwiches** · 01-09-2008, 04:32 PM

Hahahahaa

perrhaps · 01-09-2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lost in melb.

it's like walking through brooklyn at night wailing"rob me"

Or throwing a birthday party for an arsonist, and giving him a blowtorch for a present.

01-09-2008, 04:44 AM	#1
treesmoke Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 4,588 Thanks: 0 Thanked 7 Times in 5 Posts	He Put His Money where His Mouth was. TV star publishes bank details in anti-privacy editorial, gets ripped off Posted by Cory Doctorow, January 7, 2008 10:26 PM \| permalink Jeremy Clarkson, a presenter for Top Gear on British TV, wrote a newspaper editorial that accused privacy activists of being hysterical over giant data-leaks (such as the British government repeatedly losing CDs bearing the financial details for 25 million households). To prove that identity theft wasn't a big deal, he included his bank account details in the article. Whereupon someone promptly began making fraudulent withdrawals from his account. Clarkson, 47, writing in his column in the Sunday Times, decried the furore last year after CDs disappeared containing the banking details of 7 million families. The loss led to fears of mass identity theft with people's bank accounts open to internet scams. At the time he wrote: "I have never known such a palaver about nothing. The fact is we happily hand over cheques to all sorts of unsavoury people all day long without a moment's thought. We have nothing to fear." However, yesterday he told readers he had opened his bank statement to find a direct debit had been set up in his name and £500 taken out of his account. "The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again," he said. "I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake." Link __________________

01-09-2008, 06:22 AM	#2
lost in melb. Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Way Down Under Posts: 2,772 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	it's like walking through brooklyn at night wailing"rob me" __________________

01-09-2008, 04:32 PM	#3
PorkChopSandwiches Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Online Posts: 52,003 Thanks: 6 Thanked 440 Times in 180 Posts	Hahahahaa __________________ A Teabelly Original