ARS & Epassporte - WTF ?
 

Dear Epassporte User

Starting today we will be asking all webmasters using or applying for epassporte as a payment
method to fax in a copy of your government issued photo ID showing an address, or government
issued passport. Current webmasters can fax in a copy of their ID to1.866.316.9640 before or
on March 10th. Make sure you include your account number. After March 10th, all accounts that
do not verify this information will be automatically switched to receive a standard check payout
method. Make sure all your account details are up to date.

Regards,
ARS


:disgust

yep, saw that mail today too

understandable i suppose , but a bit intrusive.. im certainly not going to hand out my government issued i.d. to every sponsor that pays me by epassporte.. i'm not even sure if they are legally ok to ask.. or what methods they would employ to verify a fax of an i.d. is valid.. a scammer could easily forge a faxed i.d. so all it does is piss off the legit users..

hmmmmmm, interesting :warning

actually scratch that i guess they would be allowed to "ask" because bars are allowed to ask.. but still , seems a litle intrusive..

hm looks like they can lose some webmasters again....

:thumbsup
If a sponsor asks me for an ID... i just drop them.

Let me just clarify a point on this:

You do not need to provide ID UNLESS you wish to be paid via epassporte.

ID can have DL #, SS#, Passport # etc blocked out we really just need a photo with an address close to what you have listed as your payout address on your account.

Epassporte is completely anonymous, encourages too much webmaster fraud, if a webmaster doesn't want to provide an ID it's no problem, they can wait on the check, wire transfer, or ACH, we offer many other payment options and paying once a week it's not like you have to wait a long time to get your funds.

its for fraud protection, i don't blame them.

My passport dosnt have an address on it - I didnt think any did?

Anyway - I also dont drive and we dont have ID cards in the UK, so I could be stuck.

I have had an ARS account for 5-6 yrears - any chance of applying for an exemption? - I think that I would have made my move by now if I was going to rip you off.

No passports do not have addresses, we're really just trying to verify the identity of the account holder if they want the money sent via Epassporte, hence passports are acceptable as is.

Thats cool then - thanks

that email looks dodgy, be careful

Hmm, it'd help if when sponsors send that kind of mail they actually mention why they change stuff.

This makes sense after the explanation but was stupid without it.

BS. There alsways was a rule that you first needed to cash 1 check in your name before you would get paid by epassporte.

Just shoot me or any ARS contact an ICQ and we can take care of this case by case. No honest webmaster should have anything to worry about, we just need to verify all epassporte acounts. Your friendly fraudulent webmasters are to blame.

Hmm just a question, how could someone scam by getting paid via epassporte instead of via check lol, sorry I may be clueless but why does it matter.

If I take a check to a bank they ask me for ID.

You dont just deposit it with the other checks in a lump bag?

Talk to them and they'll take care of you. I called Toolz today about my account and all is well.

Guess I live under a rock as I never realized how easy it was to defraud a sponsor by using ePassporte.

That was discontinued quite some time ago.

Can I write a check?

I hope other sponsors do no follow suit.

I have been an ARS affiliate, how many years now - 4,5?
And now all of the sudden you wanna confirm my identity? New webmasters I would understood but all your old webmasters?

I would like to doubt the intelligence and/or smart idea behind that step.
my 2 cents

You are obviously not the problem we are trying to deal with. But I cant just verify a few accounts, I need to verify all epassporte accounts.

You should understand the need to verify the identity of the people we payout weekly. You can blame fraudulent webmasters actions and abuse for this inconvenience.

All we are asking is for you to verify you are who you say you are, there are some liars out there.

agreed, what a pain

big difference IMO, bars only ask for an ID, they don't scan them and keep them in their records

this is very true.. can ars affil setup a webcam feed and flash their passport maybe with a legal rider saying no records to be kept.. :)

I would be VERY wary of handing out u.s. goverment i.d. to unkown employees of unknown countries collected stored and accessed hmm..

ARS will you keep these id's on file ? On your servers ? sponsors are well known for "losing" their webmaster email lists to spammers and fraudsters , what kind of security will you employ to safeguard these id's ? what kind of legal contracts do you have in place to keep current employees who may quit in the future with walking away with your webmasters id's ?

doesn't epass have a verification tool when you open a new account? When I opened mine it asked for my credit card, and then sent a verification number I need to get off of my statement before opening an account. I'm waiting for the statement now so I can open my epass account.

Didn't they already mention you could black out the number on the passport or the id?

It almost seems that people aren't understanding just how much fraud takes out of your pocket from your sponsors. Money that's lost to crooks and cheats could very well have been spent on bonus days, parties, and that kind of thing.