Please tell me this is fake news - you can't make this up

[BulldogTom]

The IRS signed a 7 million dollar, no bid contract with Equifax last week, to provide fraud prevention services to the Agency.   The story comes from MSN Money Page if you want to look it up.

REALLY?  I just don't have words for how stupid this sounds.  

Perhaps the two will combine their databases and just make every American subject to ID theft for the rest of the world.

OMG - this must be a joke.

Tom
Modesto, CA

[jklcpa]

Probably it's real. The IRS has used Equifax for i.d. verification since 2011 or 2012, and so does the SSA.  That's in the topic about e-services and PTIN renewals being affected by freezing credit because it stops these agencies from continuing through the process of identity verification.

[SaraEA]

Write to your federal representative and Senator NOW!  Equifax still has not notified those people who were victims and has not said exactly what information was stolen.  Sure, "maybe" they got birthdates and SS#s, but did they get the personal data that Equifax has amassed about our personal and financial histories?  Until we know exactly what was taken, on whom, the IRS must steer clear.

[Lee B]

Did you see that yahoo just announced that several years ago when their email database was hacked that every customers information was exposed

which is 3 times the number that they had previously admitted to !   IT security experts are now saying that with hackers getting more aggressive

and sophisticated that this situation is only going to continue to get worse !

[Lee B]

In the last 6 months or so, the POS systems of Whole Foods, Sonic, Wendy's and Chipotle have been hacked.  POS systems generally do not have good security.

Shopping with cash is looking like the prudent way to go. 

[Abby Normal]

Android Pay generates a second CC # so your actual number is not in the POS system. I'm going to start using it whenever possible. Restaurants in America are the biggest stumbling block. When I was in Canada recently all the wait staff brought a portable POS to the table so you can pay however you wish and not hand your card to someone who disappears with it. America is always behind the times on things like this, because short-term profits are God in America.

[BulldogTom]

56 minutes ago, Abby Normal said:

Restaurants in America are the biggest stumbling block. When I was in Canada recently all the wait staff brought a portable POS to the table so you can pay however you wish and not hand your card to someone who disappears with it. America is always behind the times on things like this, because short-term profits are God in America.

Chilli's, Applebee's and Olive Garden do the same thing.  There is a POS machine on the table and they expect you to use it (in my experience).  If you ask for a check, they will point you to the POS machine.  If you hand them a credit card, they will instruct you on how to use the POS machine to pay your check.   Prints out the receipt right from the pos machine.

Tom
Modesto, CA

[Lee B]

13 minutes ago, BulldogTom said:

Chilli's, Applebee's and Olive Garden do the same thing.  There is a POS machine on the table and they expect you to use it (in my experience).  If you ask for a check, they will point you to the POS machine.  If you hand them a credit card, they will instruct you on how to use the POS machine to pay your check.   Prints out the receipt right from the pos machine.

Tom
Modesto, CA

So what, if their POS system with poor security is hacked ?

[Abby Normal]

2 hours ago, BulldogTom said:

There is a POS machine on the table and they expect you to use it

It's the way of the future and I love it. But is there a 'we need drink refills' button or a 'something's wrong with our food' button?

[jklcpa]

47 minutes ago, Abby Normal said:

It's the way of the future and I love it. But is there a 'we need drink refills' button or a 'something's wrong with our food' button?

Gah, I usually end up with the wait staff comes back too soon or too often, like after barely one bite and asks if everything is ok.  

[BulldogTom]

53 minutes ago, Abby Normal said:

But is there a 'we need drink refills' button or a 'something's wrong with our food' button?

There is a button for "Call Server" that lights up a red light on your POS and alerts them that you want to see them.  There are also games that can be played (for a fee) so you can hand it to a person who can't sit through a meal without electronic stimulation.

Tom
Modesto, CA

[Catherine]

Most of the POS kiosks I've seen in restaurants look and feel like they NEVER get washed when the table does.  Greasy fingerprints and ketchup smears.  Blech!

[Abby Normal]

Someone over on reddit swabbed ATMs and had lots of nice bacterial growths in his sample dishes in no time at all. Gonna have to start carrying a pack of Lysol wipes wherever we go. Lysol kills bacteria and viruses.

[Elrod]

Eww!!!.. bacteria .......

[jklcpa]

Partial quotes from an article in Accounting Today:
 

Quote

Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter Wednesday to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking about why the agency would award a contract to Equifax after the company exposed the private information of more than 145 million Americans. The senators are investigating the impact of the data breach on Americans and federal agencies, and they asked Koskinen to explain the IRS’s rationale for trusting the company to aid with combating identity theft.

 

Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Susan DelBene of Washington also sent letters to Koskinen.

[Catherine]

I could be *really* snarky here and say that this way, if the IRS systems are ever really badly breached, they could then blame Equifax, hoping to save their own skins!

[Max W]

I use Paypal for most of my internet, store and restaurant purchases.  I get an immediate email on my cell phone.  If someone tries to use my Paypal account, which happened once, I know right away and cancel the card and get a new one.   

[Abby Normal]

If PayPal ever gets hacked, there will be no safe place to hide online.

[michaelmars]

WITH all the POS systems at restaurants I am sure people will be tipping less. 

[Abby Normal]

1 hour ago, michaelmars said:

WITH all the POS systems at restaurants I am sure people will be tipping less. 

Restaurants have been experimenting with eliminating tipping and just raising prices. I hope it works! I tip well but I see poor tippers all the time.