Keeping your stack information private is the best way to help prevent theft. Many bullion thefts are done by people who know you are stacking. People who work at bullion dealers know everything about you (name, address, quantities purchased). Some person working at your local or online dealer could certainly use your purchase history information against you. Just a thought....
Even though I keep my items in secure storage, this is still a concern of mine as there has been targeted thefts of the forums. It really irritates me when bullion dealers still insist on asking for ID when there is no legal requirement. I have no interests circumventing taxation or hiding anything but rather do not want to be target for robberies regardless or a victim of identity fraud. Bullion dealers take note. I don't care how secure you think your bullion is stored, and how good you think you can protect your clients information. It is as strong as the load carry capacity of wet toilet paper to anyone who is determined to get to it
Get one that posts to a PO Box. I've asked for this and even though it wasn't in their T&C's they obliged. I have been in a bullion dealer in Syd where the order sheer was on the counter in plain view and had the personal info of buyers and how much they spent in plain view... Wouldn't have been hard to memorize or photo the info. Dealer didn't seem too bothered when I asked if he should have that on the counter
po boxes are not secure, if they wanted to track you from a po box they could easily rock up to that post office, say your po box 69, they go in and ask if and when box 68 is available, the postie will open the book in front of you, if your quick you can see the details of box 69, go try it, you'll be amazed, not to mention the book is just under the counter.. But obviously it's much easier to sit and wait for them to open the box, follow home and bingo, thanks for coming. I also mentioned if before when going in to dealers, you don't go in for a chocolate donut, your a bullion guy so it's not hard to follow shoppers home after they walk out of the bullion shop. Also ebay is the best for thieves, sell cheap and watch the stackers flock to buy, like seagulls. buy 5 oz gold bars, sell for spot, who buys 5oz gold bars? big stackers.
I was referring to buying something in person, the worst is when they give you this look and BS response "no other customers have complained" or "you are the only one that has mentioned it" I'm sure your craptacular filling cabinet and computer systems are as highly secured as some of the largest corporations in the world that have had all of their customers data stolen.
I know! This is no $#^ joke! I obtained my records and I am not happy at all the the level of accurate detail they have obtained. Except that I am not a pussy!! I have requested that be updated.
A few years ago I was in a bullion dealer's office. They left me at their desk for 5 minutes. In the trash was a bunch of invoices clearly showing customer addresses, purchase details (quantity, pickup date ... etc). I can only imagine what a criminal could have pulled from their trash.
This is why you get secure storage. You can sleep easy knowing that even if your details are compromised then you still don't have to worry.
Exactly! all your PM,s are safe, but they vandalize your house and steal anything and everything of value in disappointment lol "Bubbles"
Put your metal unmer a concrete slab at someone else's house like I did. Anyone who can get it has worked hard enough to have earned what they find. Anything I gave posted isn't going to where my metal is anyway so my main concern is someone tearing things up looking for something that isn't even there.
Wow....that is truly disturbing. Shouldn't there be a blacklist that this forum has where members can post notices of red flag situations like that and name dealers by name so that member stackers can be more informed consumers? .
I have two dealers in my city. One only asks for my first name when I purchase anything. They give me the product and I walk away. The other initially asked for Photo ID and put me in their "UN" secure computer system. When I go to purchase they pull up my record and get me to sign an invoice indicating I received the bullion. Not sure why because there are no taxes here on bullion. In Canada we have the PIPA Act (Personal Information Protection Act). It protects individual privacy by requiring, in most cases, private-sector organizations to obtain consent for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information and providing individuals with a right of access to their own personal information. Next time I go into the dealer I am going to request to be removed from the system because I just don't see a need for it.
I've never ever seen a coin dealer (here in my area) ask for ANY personal info when you BUY (I guess if you spend $10K in cash at one time they would ask per the IRS/FED rules). Some do require ID when you sell, but never buy. Walk in with cash, walk out with metals. They don't ask your name or anything. Doing so would be quite draconian and serves no real purpose other than to report to big brother or worse. Perhaps this is an outside the US type of thing? If this is one of those countries where you can't really own guns, then it makes even better sense, but is still a shame. Just my opinion. Jim
Same dealer had their buyers database hacked and put online a few months later. Only because I Goolged my phone number did I happen to find the list. I emailed them asking for an explanation and didn't even get so much as a thank you for letting them know. Or even a reply. More than a week later they email their clients letting them know it's not their legal obligation to inform them of what has happened but they're such good people they decided they would. Pfft.
It's outrageous behavior like that by a dealer that should be disclosed / reported on some sort of SilverStacker dealer black list and the name of the dealer be made known to members of this forum. That sort of attitude by a dealer pisses me off. .
Coin dealer "may" know... so, you can always order multiple times smaller amounts from different dealers and try focusing on the big companies. You can also order from abroad and have a shipping company bring it to your door discretely.
PM-Dealer should know you but not your personal details. I have several PM-dealers whom I frequently meet but none knows any more than my appearance and preference for silver bullion bars. They can assume that I live within the practicable radius to randomly visit them but thats it. I would NEVER LEAVE my personal details with ANY BUYER/SELLER. In my region its mandatory to register a buyers details when buying from a registered dealer for volumes superior 15k CHF (20k AUD/ 15k USD) per transaction. I never come close to that amount per transaction so I never have to register. In neighbouring states theres the limit of 1500 EUR per transaction. As modest stacker its even then easy not to be officially registered, unless you have silly amounts of money to spend in shortest time. If you belong to this rare species then you usually have totally different possibilities to make discrete business... When frequently ordering by post its different...
In Australia bullion dealers have to comply with GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, they dont take your details just for the fun of it, creating extra administration work along the way. No excuse for sloppy house cleaning as member HOUSE has pointed out,leaving purchase details in such a public area. There are rules and regulations dealers must adhere to set by GOVERNMENT or they themselves can be heavily fined. So the GOVERNMENT makes the rules, not the dealers. Dealers need to make sure personal details are kept secure yes.
It seems to me that many of these traders are in serious breach of the privacy act. Anyone that careless with clients personal information could, and should, be prosecuted and if I ever experienced something like this I would do my utmost to ensure a prosecution occurred.
