Got a Chase credit card? Be afraid...very afraid.

I had a new card arrive in the mail, which puzzled me. I had not asked for one, nor was my current one expired. So, I called customer service. After being on hold for 29 minutes, I got a representative who informed me that a card was sent to an alternative address and I must have gotten one as well as a courtesy measure since my address was on the account.

Red flag, eh? I thought so. I immediately informed her that I did not make a request for a new card to be sent somewhere and I asked for her to read me the address. I half thought that she would read my address and this would end up being some sort of customer representative misinformation since half of the time I encounter anyone in customer service it seems like I know more about the practices and procedures of their company than he/she does.

She told me that she could not give me that information, but she could transfer me to Chase's fraud department. But before she would transfer me, she made me listen to her pitch for Chase's fraud protection program for the bargain price, I believe, of $7.95 a month. I was appalled at her timing.

I had more waiting on hold to do before the fraud department representative came on the line. Then...are you ready for this? Then, the man asked me to confirm identifying information about which of three counties in which I recently resided. Now, I really, until now, have known zip about the counties in which I live. I know the one now because it is infamous for its taxes, and my checkbook is intimately acquainted with each and every contribution that goes to this county. So, I couldn't answer his question. Then he tried cities, but I didn't understand what he was saying because they were all in another state. I kept asking him to ask me something about myself...my social security number, my security question, anything about me! But he insisted that I need to answer his questions. And then he final hinted that the questions were about my step-father.

I grew quite angry that this man would even know my step-father's name and when I said so, he replied that all his information was merely a part of "my public record."

Do you know where I am going yet?

Public record? I still cannot fathom how you would get to my step-father unless you went to my birth certificate, got my mother's name, looked at her current marriage license and got his name.

I refused to answer the questions, and so he accused me of being the fraudulent person. He kept saying that if I were who I claimed to be I could answer the questions. At that point, I got really upset and asked to speak with a supervisor. He responded that if I would just calm down and answer his questions then this would all be over. Again, I said that I was not going to answer personal questions about someone else. I was my own person, the account was my own, and that his questions should stick to the application I filled out to open the account.

And then...have you figured it out?

And then he said that the questions were about me; they were from my file. CHASE HIRES A THIRD PARTY COMPANY TO COMPILE PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ITS CUSTOMERS UNDER THE GUISE OF IDENTIFYING THEM IN CASE OF FRAUD.

I insisted again on speaking with a supervisor because I had never heard of something so invasive. He, again, kept saying that the file was maintained by the third party company, that it was all a part of public record, and that Chase only used the information for my protection. What a load of crap.

After my third or fourth demand, he finally put me on hold to wait for his supervisor. The long hold gave me pause during which the ramifications of what Chase was doing sank in: this company practice was to put personal identify information together with financial information! I mean really...what information did Chase give the third party company to identify me so that it could begin building my file? My name? That alone would work because I am not the only person out there with my name? Chase had to give that company at least two pieces of information about me...and now that company knows I have an account with Chase. Chase is practically inviting people to steal the identities of its customers!

The first question the supervisor asked was the last four digits of my social security number, so I thought things were going to go better, but I was wrong. He then muttered something about finding another question for me to answer and asked for some of the other cities in which I have lived. Now, Chase has only had two addresses for me in the same city. Of course, I could also have given the schools where I got my degrees!

I finally gave the answers to the city questions, only to discover that the first customer representative was wrong. It was actually Chase's marketing department that requested that another card be sent to me for reasons undetermined.

I really, really cannot believe this practice of hiring a third party to investigate the background of customers, especially one who pays on time and does not carry a balance. My step-father's life is none of their business. My personal life is none of their business. All that should matter to them is my credit history and my payment record. Period.

I want to call CNN. I want to shove this story in front of 60 minutes. I wish I were Net savvy enough to plaster it all over the Internet...chat rooms and watch dog sites galore. I want the whole world to know how snoopy and sneaky and completely nosy Chase is. I want to know that they are unprofessional and slimy, hiding behind the specious excuses that "their information is all a part of the public record" and that "they use a 'third party' to compile the record.

If you thought privacy was a luxury before, perhaps...now... you realize that it simply does not exist.

What do you have in your wallet? Chase?



Note: The supervisor claimed that Citibank does the same thing. Did you know anything about this practice?