21-25 Credit Card Facts
21. If you sprinkle iron filings on a credit card (or any magnetic stripe card), you can see the encoding on the stripe. – Source
22. You can call 1-800-5 OPT OUT to remove yourself from the main 3 credit unions’ mailing lists and stop most credit card applications in your mailbox for 5 years. – Source
23. The mastermind behind a multi-million dollar credit card cloning ring required that all accomplices engage in sadomasochistic group sex with him on video to ensure they weren’t undercover cops. – Source
24. In July 2009, a man from New Hampshire got charged $23 quadrillion dollars by Bank of America and Visa due to a credit card glitch. – Source
25. P*rn subscribers with female names are flagged as signs of potential credit card fraud. – Source
26-30 Credit Card Facts
26. A hacker once stole almost 1.8 million credit card numbers, a couple of years after infiltrating the Pentagon and dozens of military bases… because he felt like it. – Source
27. Leonard Cohen’s manager took $5 million from him and sold the rights to his music over time to pay her credit cards among other things leaving him with $150,000. He never retrieved the money and basically said he hoped she would learn from it and be a better person. – Source
28. Student loan debt is roughly $1 trillion in size, greater than credit-card debt in the US – Source
29. Clerks(1994) was made for $27,575, mostly funded by credit cards in Kevin Smith’s name, proceeds from selling his comic collection, a family donation and paychecks from the stores the film is about. – Source
30. Stephen Fry was expelled from two schools and went to prison for credit card fraud. – Source
#17 is based off an article published in 2011. Gold and palladium spot prices change per hour, and are not remotely valued at the same price as they were in 2011. Also, despite being one ounce in weight, the card is merely a base metal plated with an alloy of 23K gold and palladium; it would only be worth $1000 in melt value if the entirety of the card was cast from the alloy.
This is indeed an eye-opening article on the history of credit cards. I’ll keep this information in mind when sourcing for new credit card.