Updated 11:46 am
The Obama campaign is not employing the widely used credit card address verification system to check whether the address submitted by a donor matches the address tied to the credit card, an omission that might allow supporters to use a fake identity when contributing.
The practice could potentially allow donors in possession of illicitly obtained credit card numbers to exceed the campaign limit, and to permit overseas supporters to contribute.
The Mitt Romney campaign does require use of the system and asks the donor to include the three or four numbers- sometimes known as the “CVV” code – on the back of the card. The code helps determine whether the donor is in possession of the card.
The Obama campaign donor page does not have a box for entering the CVV code and does not appear to reject donors who lists addresses different from those attached to the cards.
It’s not clear if the Obama campaign has some kind of backup system that would mitigate the need for the address verification system. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But what is clear is that it is failing to use the most basic tool employed by businesses and groups around the world that accept credit card payments online.
John Hinderaker over at Power Line blog tested the Obama system, donating under the name “Illegal Contributor” and listing his address as “Cell Block 13″ in the State Penitentiary.” He said his employer was the “Minnesota Penal System” and listed his occupation as “inmate.”
Not only was his $3 donation – made with his real credit card number – welcomed, but he was asked to set up his own grassroots fundraising page so he could induce others – why not the entire cell block 13? – to contribute as well.
Trying the same experiment over on the Romney website likely would not work, because the address verification system would determine that there is no “Illegal Contributor” living at the State Penitentiary associated with the credit card.
The blog Hot Air reported in 2008 that the Obama campaign was doing the same thing then.
168 thoughts on “Obama Campaign Not Using Verification System”
Do as I say, but not as I do. The end justifies the means. Hypocrite, liar, and cheat. I could go on but it would just make me hotter.
Is the administration using E-Verify to vet all new hires? Or are there illegal aliens employed at the White House?
That’d be an interesting investigation.
Ummmm, of course not, they’ve put Obama’s SSN into E-verify and he did not pass. Google it.
So in answer? they do not employ it at the white house and well, the POTUS is not elligble for employment.
The Chicago way….the ends justify the means.
…and the meanies…
Should anyone be surprised? It has always been about the money for this administration and they don’t care much about whose it is. All this caterwauling about his donations being down is a ruse. He will have no trouble raising the $1B goal set. Do you think all those failed green energy companies failed completely? Where did all that money go so quickly? Some of it will come back to the Obama campaign. That might be an interesting exercise: how much have and how much will the mgmt teams from these failed companies contributed and when did they do it?
On Monday Solar Trust of America, LLC, another one of his “green energy” investments, went belly up after getting $2.1 Billion of taxpayer money from the DOE only one year ago. Once all that cash has been thoroughly laundered wouldn’t be surprised to see the vulture capitalist in chief get a hefty kickback if he hasn’t already. Even if there is hard evidence of illegal activity there will be no investigation or inquiry because he and his shadow government are above the law.
Read that. I especially gagged when the administration said that it was “unclear” how much of the loan was disbursed. So it’s just assumed that the “”loan”” won’t be paid back to the point that they don’t even bother to keep track?!?
The same corrupt system they used in the last election. There is no end to the lies and corruption with this president. Well, not until Jan 2013 anyway.
If you think it is going to end then, you’re delusional.
What happens then, come Jan 2013 when he cheats his way to a second term?
What happens is either what’s happening in Athens, what happened in Russia in 91-92, or the scenario described in “Unintended Consequences” by John Ross. And I’ll just leave it at that…
Has Obama EVER done anything legal, honest or ethical? I think not. The most corrupt, dishonest POTUS in our history. Time to clean the garbage out of the WH.
obama’s never verified his donors. that would put a huge dent into his fundraising – many of his donors last time were from “overseas”. especially as this year, many of his hollywood supporters are having second thoughts and not so fast to open their wallets.
Correct – the Saudis, Iranians, Russians and Chinese. All of our enemies – he is beholden to them. No wonder, he told Medeved to tell Putin to have patience until after his election – he will have more flexibility to destroy us for them. This is pure treason and congress does nothing. Thomas Jefferson’s view would be to “alter or abolish the government when it fails to serve the people.”
Shocking,,,,, absolutely shocking,,,,,,,
Yeah,,right…..
AH HAHA!
How would Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny contribute otherwise?
I read a post on Facebook from a regular guy that donated to Obama 2012 under the name Adolf Hitler , his address was something to the effect of 14 Holocaust Way Jewtown blah blah blah . Donation was accepted , it clearly went unverified .
I made a donation under the name Vladimir Putin, address “The Kremlin, Ulitsa Borovitska 1, Moscow”… went through… no CVV verification, no AVS, nothing. This will make a fun little submission to the FBI’s Credit Card Fraud division, the matching department at the FTC, and the assorted fraud / merchant enforcement departments of the major credit card companies.
Any merchant that accepts “Card-Not-Present” transactions without AVS or CVV verification opens themselves up to higher transaction processing rates, fraud rates leading to account closure, and if willful complicity to commit fraud is proven – legal action.
A fair point and question raised. Appreciate the question does not accuse – merely ask a fair and legit question and points out Mr. Romney’s campaign as how it addresses this matter. Bet you Mr. Obama’s campaign does not reply to your question.
It’s going to be even WORSE this time than 2008, especially since the Obama campaign will start using mobile-phone-based card swipers (attached to iPhones and Droids) that can accept pre-paid Cards, Debit cards, EBT cards, ANY card! The worst abuse will come from using pre-paid cards, they are just like cash and are ALMOST UNTRACEABLE!
Nothing like trying to hide the truth from people. This seems to be a standard practice of the Obama machine, it happened in 2008 also. This is the type of information everybody needs to know. The MSM sure will not bring it to light for the public to read.
After being criticized for similar stuff in ’08, it begs the question WHY? Why are they uninterested in verifying where their money is coming from?
Granted, this isn’t a hard question …
Keith, you should have reported that it was Romney’s campaign that was doing this. The MSM would be all over it, and then it would be BIG news when the correction would finally be made. As it is now, MSM will never touch it.
They don’t want “KGB” and the “Governments of Cuba and Venezuela” to show up.
Most transparent administration ever?
Yes, transparantly corrupt.
They have come to the point where they don’t care anymore because no one is keeping them honest – not the media, not the congress.
America is in a dire state of destruction right now. The ship is sinking and the crew is rearranging the deck chairs.
Requiring CVV codes is racist and will lead to donation disenfranchisement of minorities.
That’s really funny.
I am delighted (but not surprised) that commenters on this blog remember the 2008 monies, all supposedly from the small donors, $25.00 and under.
Where’s the damn like button. Like Like Like!
Obama’s best friends and financial supporters are all felons now in prison.. why would he want to discriminate against them?
So I guess Madoff can continue to make contributions to Obama
CC verification is another one of those silly inconveniences like SCOTUS review of Constitutionality.
Fracking cheater. The only way to rid the country do this president is impeachment, because he is going to lie, cheat, and steal 4 more years.
Obama is who he always was, don’t blame him. The problem is with the American voters who settle for the people we have in government. When the people spend more time following sports, soaps or the view than encouraging good moral people to run for office, we the people get the government we deserve. Too bad it is not the government that was fought for and won by the sacrifices of many people proud to call themselves Americans. Government is never the solution, government is always the problem. Government is power and power magnifies the personality flaws of those who have it. Obama is who he is, magnified.
Ok I will walk around the room looking for surprise in anyones face?
Anyone? Anyone at all? OK Barry we all get the picture. The king has no clothes,your a socialist / communist thug who hates the USA .Right? no really? Barry we all know this,
This ought be widely reported.
Expecting ethical behavior from Obama only leads to disappointment.
Thanks Keith for picking this story up, it needs to be told, big time! More thuggery from this administration, sickening. The ends justify the means indeed.
It comes down to the same old thing. Democrats CAN’T win unless they cheat.
Fine, we all know the Marxist obama does not care about the law and thinks he is above it, nothing about this surprises me.
However, what makes me REALLY MAD is that our ghuys in congress allows him to get away with it! WE OWN the house! Why in the h3ll does not the people WE ELECTED in 2010 call in the FEC and force them publicly in hearings to make the obama administration abide by the law and at the same time, use the hearings to force the media to cover what the slimeball Marxist is doing???
He is doing it yes but it is OUR SIDE that is enabling him to get away with it!!!!!
Because they are fat, happy, and content with their big ol paycheck and retirement package…
I’ll bet they are not using E Verify either.
And after all the illegal donations are in – millions of illegal, non-citizens will be voting for the Crook-in-Chief! Thousands of illegals awaiting deportation are receiving ‘waivers’ to delay or cancel their deportations .;..just in time for the election. All they have to do to remainn in this country forever is prove that they have a relative in the U.S! Well, we already know 90% of all Latinos have relatives in the U.S.!
The DOJ has corrupted the electoral process to the point where it’s going to be a crime to ask for voter ID! The Republican are doing nada, zip, NOTHING to stop this train wreck! Where is that cry-baby, Boehner? Never mind, Pelosi will be moving him out of her office in a few months. And hopefully, we will be sending him back to the family’s saloon!
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It wouldn’t make a very good thugocracy if they didn’t follow the Chicago way.
Should we be surprised?
“So?” -MSM
Barry & CO. don’t care where the funds come from, whether they are legal or not, foreign or not….from a living person or someone long dead…just keep the funds coming. When the ‘fish stinks” it is from the head down!
ONE & DONE!
As long as the money’s good, it doesn’t matter to the campaign where it comes from.
I recall another Presidential election in which there was circumstantial evidence and strong suspicions that money was being illegally provided to the Democrat Party from a foreign government. That was 1976.
Sounds to me like the Obama campaign is NOT PCI compliant. I wonder what VISA and MC think about this.
Mr. Obama did the same thing in the last election and NO ONE did anything. He also sold huge amounts of tee-shirts overseas which I assume was bring in illegal foreign contributions. We are no long a country of laws and thanks to this trailer trash president we are going down the drain rapidly.
It sounds to me like the Obama sites are NOT PCI compliant. I wonder what VISA and MC think about this. I’d tread lightly as they are notorious for pushing compliance on every other user of CCs online. Maybe someone should make a phone call…
Yeah, we remember all of the Acorn registrations – how many times did Micky Mouse and Donald Duck register and vote for Obama in 2008? How many foreigners from the Middle East voted multiple times?
Maybe not enough to change that election as far as voting but certainly the huge influx of illegal contributions into his campaign coffers made a difference. With all of that money, how many people wer bought off?
WHY ISN”T THE FEC DOING ITS JOB?
This is one of TWO reasons Team Obama decided against using federal funds for their campaign – after promising they would. First, they wanted to keep the FEC out of their questionable fundraising methods; and second, LEGAL Team Obama was concerned the FEC would deny them federal funds because Obama was not eligible to be POTUS because he was not a natural born citizen.
There is a video on Youtube showing this issue
The guy used his credit card
and the names Adolph Hitler and BHO’s Aunt each time the card was approved and monies withdrawn
he also showed the emails received from the campagin
I like your investigation, but didn’t complete the comparison. You can not say that if you tried the same experiment with the Romney campaign you would likely get different results. You have to do it. Even a grade schooler would see this as incomplete.
I just did. It didn’t work. CVV and AVS (address verification) are part of PCI compliance. Obama’s sites are NOT compliant. It seems odd that my business and all other business are regulated to prevent fraud and such practices, but, Obama is not.
Follow the money…you’ve often heard that Gold (money) is king…well, information is absolute power and with it resides the ability to make or break kings.
oh? and since when does PCI compliance mean AVS and CVV???
PCI compliance is about the secure transmission and storage of information and the computers that interact with this information
the 3 main points of PCI is that the card # is kept secure during transmission and if storing it then it has to be encoded (hashed) and not stored in plain text and that you are NOT allowed to store the CVV # and that the servers used are secure
you dont need to request avs and cvv to be compliant but if you do then you need to transmit it securely and if you store it then it needs to be secure
Thank you for doing that. It just wasn’t complete for me. Just saying likely would not let it go through for Romney without actually doing it didn’t go far enough for me. I knew in my heart it wouldn’t, but it needed to be in the article to make the point. Again, I appreciate you going the extra mile for me.
Ah…let the cheating begin (anew)!!!
No surprise here…they did the same thing with the 2000 election, realized there was no investigation by any “presiding authority” and expanded it in 2004. When the Obama campaign of 2008 rolled around there were a few cries for an investigation but when Mr. Obama won the Democratic nomination all inquiries were quited, whatever investigative ‘digging around’ ceased immediately and the rest is history. Mr. Obama’s campaign exploited the lack of oversight by the prevailing “presiding authorities” and answers to earlier questions were never answered. In this election, more so than any in our history (and we know election fraud took place during every presidential election) candidate’s ability to raise billions of dollars via credit card donations will take place…with money comes television and radio advertisements…and the candidate’s campaign with the most money generally wins…at least that’s how I see it.
Obama just makes wild claims that are mostly inaccurate, with no facts to back them up. He leaves the people to make up their minds based on his lies. There are too many to name right now, but you have to be stupid to believe Pres. McNumbNuts. To hear him talk about it, Obama has created 300,000 jobs permonth since he has been in office, but the actual facts are that only 2-4 months since he has been in office has there been any jobs created and they have only been 200,000 in 2 months and 22,000 the other month. Slick advertising on his achievements. Check out his hybrid car program and the green companies he has loaned trillions of dollars to that have gone bankrupt. We’re in trouble as long as this slick-talking dud is in office.
No doubt about it…we’re at the “do or die” stage. Michael Savage is totally correct. We the People either rise up and vote this fraud out of office, or the country as we have known it dies forever. There’s no more Obama said this and Obama did that. His sins against Liberty and Freedom have long since been documented. That ship sailed a while ago. Time for action, nothing else. If the Republican House “led” by their politically impotent Speaker Boehner cannot stand up to this usurping despot, then who? Answer: us, We the People who need to vote this lying traitor out of office in such astronomical numbers that all the Dems vote stealing strategies won’t put a dent in the final tally. Of course, with the new electronic computerized system, even that would not be certain. Let’s get off our couches, turn off the Obama propagandized TV, get to know our neighbors, organize, and protect that which is our God-given inalienable rights. +
I’ve always suspected his fat cat (foreign and domestic) buddies buy up thousands of pre-paid gift charge cards and and donate with them under names from the phone book?
Also when I see people still buying $35k rubber chicken dinners with Obama, I wonder if they’re just seat fillers?
There needs to be an audit !!!!!
Again?
Those crazy, wacky software bugs…
Maybe an FEC complaint is in order. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Is anyone really surprised by this. This is the most corrupt administration since Nixon…in fact, I think this one has surpassed Nixon. Combine that with the fact that they are desperate and you get this result.
Nixon, really. Obama blew by Nixon his first month in office.
Surprise? What can you expect from thugs !!!!
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