With the assistance of fellow blogger Ryan's Head, I contacted the Identity Theft division of the Orange County CA Sheriff's Department. They did not equivocate. Faxing my id was a bad idea and playing online poker was certainly not worth the risk.
After giving myself a couple of days to cool off, I laid out my findings in an email. I also played the "lawyer card". I hate doing that but if the triggering fact was that SuitedAK had any of my personal info, I needed to know.
Lo and behold, the problem was that we had both used Sprint Wireless. The security department checked with the IT department and apparently, the connection was not close enough to cast suspicion on me. My account was reactivated and I did not have to fax id. Whether or not I play remains to be seen. I am still perplexed that the security department had not checked with the IT department before developing this policy and it's unclear whether the policy itself is changed.
I do not name the company because, as I noted earlier, a little research indicated that this "policy" is not confined to one company. I have no idea how widespread it is. If you have been asked to fax or scan in photo id, contact me at justene@gmail.com or comment below.
Justene Adamec writes a poker column that appears every other Friday on Blogcritics. She also writes for the corporate blog, Vespaquest.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
You had to pay 9% to GIVE them your money to hold? That's outrageous.
Dave
2 - Justene
I could have avoided the fee by waiting 4-5 days for the check to clear. I think it is almost impossible to use credit cards at online gambling sites and that 9% covers bounced checks if they don't wait for clearance. I was on vacation and wanted to play the satellite to the World Championship Of Online Poker so it was an expense that I was willing to pay.
It ended up adding to the frustration when I could not play.
3 - Eugene
"I also played the "lawyer card". I hate doing that..."
I used to do that all the time not really even having a lawyer, until I put myself in the position to say that and have it be true. I can now say "You will be hearing from my lawyer" over a $10 issue and know that they will hear from my lawyer. Look at http://gotlawyer.ejtholdings.net for more info.
4 - Search Guy
Do you think that searchable websites that display 'public records' (like unlisted phone numbers, actual addresses) should be illegal? Don't these types of 'public data' servers help out committers of theft identity?
BEWARE, search engines/portals are listing your private data (it is definitely unethical to post peoples addresses and other personal data), people can attain this data to assist them with IDENTITY THEM (stollen identities).
People do not know that if you even simply register to vote or request to join the army/military in USA, you name/address/telephone are made public information (muti billion dollar industry selling our private info) without you having to sign a consent form or without asking permission! Even where you buy a internet domain name (lease actually, no single person actually owns a domain name, even Bill Gates does not own Microsoft.com), your address, name and telephone number are added to public records that anyone with an internet connection can retrieve this data to harrass you or even SPAM you (don't forget that deranged cyberstalkers can find you now)!
Some Sites Showing Private/Personal Data (many without persons consent or knowledge):
http://zabbasearch.sirseek.com (follow link on page)
http://ussearch.com