DVC Fraud Reservations

[Ed T]

Has anyone experienced someone trying to make a reservation at a DVC resort using your name? I understand that they need to have your member number and have to confirm your address and social security numbers most time so how secure is the making of reservations? We even have an additional password on the account that members service ask each time we call. I have given out many referrals over the years and had only one experience when someone tried to make a reservation in my name. Anyone else?

 

[jimh13432]

Never had a problem or an issue. MS does a good job of checking your membership number to your social sec # I think.

 

[Mtnman44]

This is troubling to me to hear that MS is using SS# as an account identification tool. I sincerely hope there is alternate means than providing this information. I suppose they have it for tax reporting purposes but it should not be some commonly used number associated with your account, accessible to phone reps! I do not want to be giving this information to travel reps when making reservations! SS numbers should not be used like this. Say it ain't so Disney!

 

[Ed T]

Whether they have the entire social security number or not I'm not sure. They ask you to confirm the last four digits only. So that maybe the only numbers they have on their systems. I would guess Disney would be very sensitive to SS #'s

Ed

 

[Chuck S]

I'm a lot less worried about DVC Member Services having the SS# info than I am about the number appearing on documents that are avbailable to anyone on the internet through your county website.

There was a news story about SS#s being on many publically vailable documents on the Bexar County, Texas website. The summary of it was, those records are public, and the SS# was a required bit of info on that document, so there was nothing that the county could legally do to stop folks from accessing the info.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm a lot less worried about DVC Member Services having the SS# info than I am about the number appearing on documents that are avbailable to anyone on the internet through your county website.

There was a news story about SS#s being on many publically vailable documents on the Bexar County, Texas website. The summary of it was, those records are public, and the SS# was a required bit of info on that document, so there was nothing that the county could legally do to stop folks from accessing the info.

YIKES! That would scare ME!

 

[Mtnman44]

Yes, there are tons of other problems related to personal information and privacy but the point is we shouldn't use personal info of that nature when it's not absolutely neccessarry. Universities, HealthInsurance providers, and Driver Licenses, etc have all finally fixed this issue for the most part. Disney should wise up also. SS#s should be on a need to know basis and Disney reservation staff definately does NOT need to know. Unless you are financing, I question whether Disney needs to know at all. Like I said there might be something for property tax reporting but I'm not sure. It sounds like the property is all owned by disney anyway and they are the ones that pay the taxes, then just "spread the joy" to the DVC members.

 

[Muushka]

Yes, there are tons of other problems related to personal information and privacy but the point is we shouldn't use personal info of that nature when it's not absolutely neccessarry. Universities, HealthInsurance providers, and Driver Licenses, etc have all finally fixed this issue for the most part. Disney should wise up also. SS#s should be on a need to know basis and Disney reservation staff definately does NOT need to know. Unless you are financing, I question whether Disney needs to know at all. Like I said there might be something for property tax reporting but I'm not sure. It sounds like the property is all owned by disney anyway and they are the ones that pay the taxes, then just "spread the joy" to the DVC members.

When asked for our SSN at the DVC purchase, we asked, "Why do you need it?". They said, "well, we don't need it". I ask that question every time someone asks me for it and I have started to make comments at the credit union that I bank at that it is about time they stop using our SSN as account numbers. It has got to stop!

PS We did not finance it.

 

[fishermouse]

Tell me you folks are not really concerned about DVC having your SS#, for a small anuall fee I can type in anyones name and get a complete background check. online-private-eye.info sorry to scare you but nothing is private and DVC is the least of your worries..

 

[SleepyatDVC]

FYI - The last few times I had to call MS, I had to verify identity by verifying my full address and home phone number and was NOT asked for any numbers of my SS #.

I know that in the recent past that MS DID ask to verify my SS # but not the last 4 calls at least.

I don't know if this is a change because people complained or what or if they only "spot check" members randomly for their SS #'s now.

At first it crossed my mind that since any renters would have my full address and home phone number, that they could "verify" identity pretty easily. But then I realized that they don't have any access to my MEMBER number.

And I do know for a fact that when when a member calls MS and either forgets or didn't have their membership number on them that MS can look it up for them (in the past - don't know if they do it anymore) BUT then they do have to verify ID WITH the SS # at that time.

Since my home number is under my maiden name and unlisted, I will only give my cell number and/or work number to a renter if I ever decide to rent in the future (just in case). Although, I'm really not that worried about it.

 

[Muushka]

Tell me you folks are not really concerned about DVC having your SS#, for a small anuall fee I can type in anyones name and get a complete background check. online-private-eye.info sorry to scare you but nothing is private and DVC is the least of your worries..

I could care less if DVC has my SSN or not. What I care about is that companies that use it as an identifier because they are too lazy to create a unique one for their clients. It is the principal of the thing. If we stop handing it out to anyone, they will be forced to create one.

Actually I do care if DVC has my SSN. The fewer people that have it, the happier I will be.

Signed, a ID theft vicitm (stole name and SSN)

 

[mikron]

I just read the thread and called members services to add a pass code. They told me they only have the last 4 numbers of your s/s in there system. So they don't know the S/S#. If you want to add a pass code you have to fax a letter with your member # and have all parties that are on your contract sign. If you have more then one contract you can have a pass code for each or one for all.

I had an incident were a renter got to the resort and changed the type room and needed one more point. The staff on a saturday somehow took a point from my next years contract and gave it to the renter. I never found out until i went to book a reservation and found i only had 149 points not 150. It took some takling and more to get that point back from disney. I never found out how the resort got the point without members servics being open.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

I just read the thread and called members services to add a pass code. They told me they only have the last 4 numbers of your s/s in there system. So they don't know the S/S#. If you want to add a pass code you have to fax a letter with your member # and have all parties that are on your contract sign. If you have more then one contract you can have a pass code for each or one for all.

I had an incident were a renter got to the resort and changed the type room and needed one more point. The staff on a saturday somehow took a point from my next years contract and gave it to the renter. I never found out until i went to book a reservation and found i only had 149 points not 150. It took some takling and more to get that point back from disney. I never found out how the resort got the point without members servics being open.

What were the details of this? How could changing a room type only account for a one point change in the reservation?

 

[Mtnman44]

Can I infer from your comments that you did not give them your SS# and it has not been a problem in their system?

When asked for our SSN at the DVC purchase, we asked, "Why do you need it?". They said, "well, we don't need it". I ask that question every time someone asks me for it and I have started to make comments at the credit union that I bank at that it is about time they stop using our SSN as account numbers. It has got to stop!

PS We did not finance it.

 

[erikthewise]

Whenever I am asked for my SSN in a situation where I don't think it is appropriate, I just ask "Is there some other form of verification you can accept?" Unless you're dealing with a financial institution, there almost always is. In particular I have used this approach with MS.

If someone knows your last four digits, they know the only random part of it. The first three digits can be pretty much guessed by someone who knows where you were born and where you grew up. The middle two digits do not appear to be at all random either. That's why I hate to have the last four digits used for ID.

 

[Muushka]

Can I infer from your comments that you did not give them your SS# and it has not been a problem in their system?

Yes and yes!

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

OUr health insurance company was using DH's SS as our ID number. I hated this, since my ex has a copy of the card, too, so he can take the older kids to the doctor when he has them if necessary. He is not overly responsible with stuff, and has lost his wallet at least 3 times in the last 10 years.

On 01/01 of this year, they changed over to random member numbers. When we call, they also ask for the last 4 digits of DH's SS#, and they have also said that is all they keep in the "viewable" area of our account...they no longer have his whole social in there for the phone reps to see.

It is nice to know that you can change your ID method to something else, rather than use your social with MS. I worked with a woman about 7 years ago who had her identity stolen. What a mess. The police came to work once because the person was passing bad checks in her name. It took her forever to straighten everything out and I honestly don't think it will ever be fully resolved.

 

[Boston5602]

If someone knows your last four digits, they know the only random part of it. The first three digits can be pretty much guessed by someone who knows where you were born and where you grew up. The middle two digits do not appear to be at all random either. That's why I hate to have the last four digits used for ID.

from wikipedia-----

The Social Security number is a nine-digit number in the format "111-11-1111." The number is divided into three parts.

The Area Number is assigned by the geographical region. Prior to 1975, cards were issued in local Social Security offices around the country and the Area Number represented the office code in which the card was issued. This did not necessarily have to be the in the area where the applicant lived, since a person could apply for their card in any Social Security office. Since 1972, when SSA began assigning SSNs and issuing cards centrally from Baltimore, the area number assigned has been based on the ZIP code in the mailing address provided on the application for the original Social Security card. The applicant's mailing address does not have to be the same as their place of residence. Thus, the Area Number does not necessarily represent the State of residence of the applicant, either prior to 1972 or since.
Generally, numbers were assigned beginning in the northeast and moving westward, so that people on the east coast had the lowest numbers and those on the west coast had the highest numbers. As the areas assigned to a locality are exhausted, new areas from the pool are assigned, so some states have noncontiguous groups of numbers.

Complete list of area number groups from the Social Security Administration
The middle two digits are the group number. They have no special geographic or data significance but merely serve to break the number into conveniently sized blocks for orderly issuance.
There is a theory that the two middle digits can be used to identify a person's ethnic background. This is debunked as an urban legend on snopes.com as well as on the Social Security Administration's website.
The group numbers range from 01 to 99. However, they are not assigned in consecutive order. For administrative reasons, group numbers are issued in the following order:

ODD numbers from 01 through 09
EVEN numbers from 10 through 98
EVEN numbers from 02 through 08
ODD numbers from 11 through 99
As an example, group number 98 will be issued before 11.

The last four digits are serial numbers. They represent a straight numerical sequence of digits from 0001-9999 within the group.

 

[CarolMN]

Has anyone experienced someone trying to make a reservation at a DVC resort using your name? I understand that they need to have your member number and have to confirm your address and social security numbers most time so how secure is the making of reservations? We even have an additional password on the account that members service ask each time we call. I have given out many referrals over the years and had only one experience when someone tried to make a reservation in my name. Anyone else?

Wasn't something I ever even considered, but I suppose it is another risk of renting. However, now that we can see our points status online, it doesn't seem like much of a risk - those who check their accounts every so often would catch theis fairly quickly if it happened.

Best wishes -

P.S. I'd be absolutely furious if Disney allowed someone besides me or my DH to make changes to one of my reservations! Glad it worked out for you and that there was only 1 point involved.

 

[Fsued123]

FYI -
And I do know for a fact that when when a member calls MS and either forgets or didn't have their membership number on them that MS can look it up for them (in the past - don't know if they do it anymore) BUT then they do have to verify ID WITH the SS # at that time.

DVC will ask for your name if you don't have your member # handy, but they'll also ask for a full address and the last 4 of your SSN to verify your identity. This is normally the case for me when I driving home from work and call......Never once have they asked for my full SSN....