Anonymous Credit/Debit Cards
As we all know, here in the US, it’s nearly impossible to use any type of plastic without being tracked. Thanks to the Patriot Act and other privacy robbing pieces of legislation, cash is quickly becoming an unaccepted form of payment.
I created this page to serve as a repository of my own research and more importantly the feedback from others regarding their experiences with some of the various prepaid cards that exist for the time being. Please leave comments here with your experiences, any suggestions you may have, or any questions that others may be able to answer.
Here’s my original post where I first began discussing anonymous credit cards.
———————————–
For quite a while, I’ve been looking for an anonymous credit card. A truly anonymous credit card as in no personal information is associated with the card or stored on the card itself. If you Google “anonymous credit cards” you will get a number of links supposedly offering you anonymous credit cards, but proceed with caution.
I had in the past managed to find a number of anonymous “virtual” credit cards from my Google results, where I could get a number, expiration date and even CVV2. The problem was these cards were just virtual cards, but not physical cards that I could swipe. While this virtual credit card was great for online purchases and even mail order shopping, it didn’t offer a solution for my day to day needs like purchasing gas, groceries, etc. where a physical card is necessary.
Luckily, one of the links you will eventually always come across when searching for privacy friendly credit cards–which are technically prepaid debit cards– is a link directing you to Ryan Barrett’s site snarfed.org and his discussion on anonymous prepaid debit cards, which includes some physical cards. While this article was originally written in late 2005, it has remained fairly up to date through various blog comments and discussion.
It is through this article that I found out about Vanilla Visa prepaid debit cards. You can get these prepaid debit card/gift cards from CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreens and a couple other places. Today, I purchased one. The purchase started off shaky as I couldn’t find them in the CVS I was in so I was getting worried. Finally I asked the girl behind the counter if they carried gift cards and she pointed me to a whole display of gift cards and prepaid Visa and Mastercard’s. Let me caution you, do not be duped into buying any of the other prepaid Visa or Mastercard card’s unless you know for sure that they will not require a SSN or other personally identifiable information upon activation. Be very sure to stay away from the GreenDot cards as their last remaining anonymous card, WebSecret, was discontinued late last year. While the WebSecret website is still online, you can no longer buy them anywhere. All Green Dot cards now require a SSN to activate.
So after the girl pointed me in the right direction, I began looking through the dozens of gift cards on the rack. At the very bottom I found two rows of vanilla visa cards, the $50 and the $100. I grabbed the $50 card and headed up to the counter where I was able to make my purchase with cash and completely anonymously. There are some “service fees” associated with these cards when you purchase it, but they are minor in comparison to the benefits offered. The fees are $3.95 for a $25 card, $4.95 for a $50 card, and $5.95 for a $100 card. Personally, I feel it’s well worth the fee for a truly anonymous product.
Just because this card is anonymous and doesn’t have your personal info stored on it, does not mean you can’t use it online. When shopping online, you can use any address you would like for the shipping address since there is no personal information associated with this card. One of the few negatives with this card is that if you attempt to purchase anything that is more than the remaining balance on your card, it will be declined. All this means is that you will need to pay for the difference in price (assumedly with cash since you’re being anonymous) before paying the remaining amount with your card. For all the gotcha’s, I would suggest you check out their FAQ page.
I will update as I start to use my anonymous card. I can’t see any huge problems or negatives however, so I highly recommend the vanilla visa gift card for all my other privacy aware friends.
Popularity: 11% [?]
April 30th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Sorry, I just read your comments about Green Dot. That answers my question!
May 2nd, 2007 at 12:45 am
I bought a Greendot Discover card and had no prior knowledge on how it worked. I needed to buy concert tickets fast! I didn’t know they needed so much information upon activation. I thought they worked liked gift cards. Big mistake. Don’t buy them!!!!
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:08 am
Marie,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. This is why I’ve started out on my quest to find the true anonymous prepaid credit card. I fear that over time, this will become a very rare item to find. Thanks again for your comments!
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I just got a Vanilla Visa card and the main reason I wanted it was to make online purchases. However, when I tried to make a purchase online, I got an error saying the address I give did not match the address on the card. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?
June 4th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Deborah,
That’s a great question. I’ve used up my Vanilla Visa, and never did purchase anything online with it. I’m sure there has to be a way around this. I’ll see what I can dig up.
Until then, maybe someone else will chime in and tell us of their experience.
June 25th, 2007 at 7:29 am
[...] you’ve heard me talk about anonymous prepaid credit/debit cards before, however this is different. The goal with the a.K.a Card is to prevent identity theft. I see a [...]
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:36 am
I’m looking for an anonymous card in the UK but the only ones I can see advertised require photo ID to purchase the card.
Does anyone know of any prepaid card I can buy over the counter with cash in the UK without giving my ID?
September 6th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Green Dot cards ask for a SS#, but never preform any verification check. I accidentally “mis-printed” my info
September 17th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Tried a Vanilla Visa card online.
Declined every time. Error 101 Whatever that means.
I assume its because the name and address dont match anything.
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:42 am
There is NO way you can use these cards online!
Every single site I tried asks for a zip code or address. The card will not work as it fails their authentication process. Vanilla Visa will tell you that you have to find a site that does not ask for a zip code or address. But that won’t work either! I just tried using the $50 at AT&T wireless and they only ask for the Card Number and CVC code and it DOES NOT WORK.
Basically, they are lying when they claim the card works for online purchases. It doesn’t.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I am looking for a way to quickly and easily transfer funds from my bank account to an anonymous card/bank account/etc without contacting/going into the bank. I came across orderwires.com but you must have an offshore bank account. Does anyone have a clue of what to do?
Does anyone know of a prepaid debit card that allows you to load it using your bank account, preferably without id or verification? I saw Exact Pay on this site, but $495 is a lot for a card. Does the Green Dot card allow you to load funds using your bank account?
Also, are there any real offshore bank accounts that do not require an arm and a leg for payment?
TankU
October 29th, 2007 at 9:47 am
I just tried to get a green dot and they said they couldn’t verify the information I gave them. Even though it was all accurate and up to date! I’ll go on looking, I need a card with higher limits than $100.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Hello everyone, I just bought a Vanilla debit card, and I was able to complete an on-line order with it. Thus, I am assuming it depends on the on-line site you will be using as to weather or not it will take the card without a matching address record for the card.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:22 am
It would be nice if this topic could be updated occasionally to reflect any new developments regarding physical prepaid cards that do not require personal information upon purchase. It would also be good to know which cards will pass VISA AVS checks and can also be used for international purchases when needed.
Vanilla Visa is ok, but it can only be used for purchases made within the United States.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
I think a PrivaCash card would help some people out. You can buy it in many stores and anonymously put up to $500 on it. See: https://secure.privacash.com/index.cfm?catID=5&subject=1
November 24th, 2007 at 1:46 am
I just wasted the activation fee by buying one of these VanillaVisa cards for online purchases.
While the VanillaVisa web site and the card holder agreement that comes with the card both clearly state the card can be used for online purchases, good luck finding any place that accepts it online.
VanillaVisa’s response to my complaint was basically “Tough, find a site that doesn’t check for a name associated with the card.”
This is completely unacceptable. I’ve used countless different prepaid visa’s in the past to make online purchases. I’ve never had a problem with any of them.
So tomorrow I get to use this card to buy a different prepaid visa that actually works online, and I’ll have to drop another activation fee.
I should have stuck with Allaccessgift pp visa’s. Buy it with cash, register the card under a fake name at their website, and you have anonymous online purchasing power.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I WENT INTO MY LOCAL CVS..I GOT MY PRESCRIPTIONS AND A FEW OTHER PURCHASES. INCLUDING 2 VANIILA VISA GIFT CARDS…I USED MY BANK OF AMERICA CREDIT CARD FOR THIS TRANSACTION..
I WAS INFORMED BY THE STORE MANAGER I COULD “NOT” PAY FOR THE GIFT CARDS WITH MY MAKE A WISH CREDIT CARD….I HAD TO USE CASH..WHAT’S WITH THIS??????????????????:-(( DUH DUH
November 30th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
omfg green dot sucks ass fuck that shit
December 19th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Foster (16) and Tommy (10) are correct: you CANNOT use these cards online. Perhaps you can, but I haven’t found a place yet that accepts them, and I gave up after trying about 10 different sites. Inconvenient for the card holder though: most places will put a small authorization hold on your Vanilla Visa (usually $1) EACH TIME YOU TRY TO USE IT. That means the 5 times I tried to use it to buy music? Yep, $5 temporarily gone from my account. (Holds vanished 5 days later.)
Best to use Privacash or the All Access Visa. All Access Visa you can buy with cash or credit cards, and some grocery stores where they sell them even have self-checkout for extra anonymity!
Laura (17): The story I got from Rite Aid is that their phone lines can’t activate a new gift card and ring up a debit/credit card purchase at the same time, so you have to pay cash.
December 19th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Privacash will ask you for a social security number, name and birthdate to authorize your card for purchases. Is that anonymous? Hey Guru who you work for?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
It appears there is a lot of confusion going on here. In January, I will start putting together a matrix of prepaid cards and just how anonymous they are. I will take all the comments here about people’s personal experiences and use that for information, as well as my own testing.
Stay tuned at the first of the year for the progress to begin!
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:33 pm
You cannot buy a prepaid card with a credit card or check , because you would be buying credit with credit that hasn’t been paid.The funds have to be up front and secure.
That is why you can’t buy prepaid cards with a credit card.
It has to be cash or debit. No checks or credit (I work in this field so I know this)
December 28th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Spoof was wrong about Green Dot cards. Spoof incorrectly said on September 6th, 2007 at 6:30 am, that:
“Green Dot cards ask for a SS#, but never preform any verification check. I accidentally “mis-printed” my info”.
They *DO* verify SS#s now. Do Not Use!
December 30th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Privacy Guy,
Thank you for investing time to update this topic.
The Vanilla Visa cards are the closest option available to anonymous payment that I’ve found. You are not required to disclose any form of personal information upon purchase. They include a CCV number, but as mentioned before, they will not pass Visa AVS checks because there is no address or personal information associated with the card. Online merchants who accept Visa are required to pass AVS checks for purchases or else those merchants could assume the liability of fraud should the card holder not be authorized.
This appears to be the reason why many of these prepaid cards require personal information upon the initial purchase.
For individuals interested in a truly anonymous form of payment, even the cards marketed towards offering privacy, are not truly anonymous if they collect personal information.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:59 am
All Access Visa (not anonymous)
https://www.allaccessgift.com/gift/faq.m
Can I use my All-Access Gift Card for online or phone purchases?
Yes. Your personal information needs to be registered to the card in order to make purchases online or by phone. If the information you provided the merchant is different from that registered with NetSpend, the purchase could be declined. You can check or update your profile information by visiting http://www.allaccessgift.com or by calling 1-800-699-9708.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Does anyone know of an anonymous card that other people can load for you or send money to? I’m looking for a way to _receive_ money anonymously, rather than to pay anonymously. Any help you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks!
January 4th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
American Express has a gift card they claim can be used online, similar to the Vanilla Visa (though I’ve had little luck with it so far). And there is an outfit called ECOM that claims something similar. What is really necessary for me is to be able to use these cards with PayPal. It would be nice if you could include that in your review.
Thank you very much,
Hans
(you really asked me for my email address?)
January 6th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
hans,
not commenting about amex….
rec’d this from paypal recently….
Thank you for contacting PayPal, my name is Barbara. We regret the delay in responding to your service request in regards to the Virtual Debit Card.
When you install the plug-in, you choose a secondary payment source. If you don’t have sufficient funds in your PayPal balance, we will use your secondary payment source to fund the payment.
A Secure Card is a MasterCard debit card number issued in digital form only. You can generate a single-use card each time you make a purchase
online or a multiple-use card for more than one purchase on a specific website. You can use a Secure Card anywhere MasterCard is accepted
online.
To generate a Secure Card:
1. Log in to your account at https://www.paypal.com/.
2. Click “Profile.”
3. Click the “PayPal Plug-In” link in the Financial Information column.
4. Click “Secure Cards.”
5. Click the “Generate a Secure Card” button.
You can also click the plug-in menu on your browser to access the “Secure Cards” page.
i don’t have a paypal & am not that familiar w/them…. but it appears to be getting the initial paypal account set up that’s the difficulty…. if using a prepaid debit card will allow the setup then the virtual card would work as well….. the paid by cash card doesn’t appear to need anything other than a dob, name and address but’s limited to a 1-time 350 load….
this from pay by by cash:
No restrictions… The card is a true MasterCard and is accepted online and over the phone wherever debit MasterCard is accepted – the account is all electronic and we do not send a plastic card in the mail.
dave
January 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
No problems setting up a Pay-pal account. You only need an email address, really. The problem arises in transferring funds into the Pay-pal Account. Typically I attach a credit card to the account, perform a transaction and then remove the card from the account. Pay-pal uses AVS though, so a card with an address is required. I’d like to use a prepaid card of limited value (i.e. not attached to any further account) to fund Pay-pal payments. So, it would be nice if any card reviewed was tested with Paypal, and also a chart showing what personal info is required to register addresses and such. I also noticed at a local grocer, a large diplay with gift cards from Giftcardmall, both Visas and Mastercards, those should be reviewed also. If I try any of these (at 28 bucks a whack) I’ll post my results.
–Extrovert
January 11th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I get my cards from Ultimate Anonymity. I can have the card associated with any US address I choose and I use them to make purchases online. I have not have a decline yet from a website so I know it works on sites that use AVS. I order a couple a month $30 to $100 in value and use them to buy access to sites and services. They are not reloaable which is fine with me as I am always setting up new addresses.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Privacy Guy, please DO update this site as promised. There’s a lot of information on the web, and it seems contradictory. Sites that promise total anonymity seem ripe for scam artists (sure, send us a money order for Euro 1,350 and we’ll email you a number that is valid for online purchases) – What happens if you never hear from them again?
I’ve also read that all the US-issued gift cards now require a valid SSN and address by law. How anonymous is that?
Any help welcome! I’m trying to balance my desire for anonymity with my desire not to be a complete idiot and lose a lot of money. Thanks.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am
If it helps, I’ve found that people can email you Amazon and Target gift cards with nothing more than your e-mail address.
They purchase the card online and put in your e-mail, then you get a code sent to your inbox. Next time you buy something at Amazon or Target online, you enter that code to apply that money toward the purchase.
he sender never has to know your name, and they never find out what you spent the money on. It’s not as good as cash–which is what I’m still looking for (see #26)–but it’s something.
January 20th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I can only imagine any gift cards you can buy now will require identification via SSN or actual name and address. Due to the Patriot Act and the new REAL ID legislation-that was passed and is scheduled to be implemented in May of ‘08-I can only imagine it’s going to get worse.
Also, I think a lot of problems related to AVS are going to be vendor dependent. Some cards may work at some vendors and not others due to the disparity between standards of AVS checking.
February 9th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Privacy Dude, it looks like Simon gift cards are the way to go. Haven’t tried it myself, but it sounds like you can buy them with cash at Simon malls, and then fill in the name & address info online. Apparently, the info is never verified. However, $150 and up is more restrictive — they must send the card by mail to the recipient.
I got the info from the snarfed.org link in the post.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Is there any prepaid that that dont require SSN? and and if there is anything that can be reloaded with more than $500?
March 4th, 2008 at 4:50 am
[...] MCLEANKirtleynHSo here’s the list of Prepaid Credit Cards I power be impact and detailing the conditions and requirements:. GreenDot; WebSecret; Vanilla Visa; Privacash; All-Access Gift Card; Simon. Shortcut keys adding to be easy for! … [...]
March 4th, 2008 at 5:19 am
[...] Constance ChannHSo here’s the list of Prepaid Credit Cards I power be impact and detailing the conditions and requirements:. GreenDot; WebSecret; Vanilla Visa; Privacash; All-Access Gift Card; Simon. Shortcut keys adding to be easy for! … [...]
March 18th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Here’s what I’ve found so far. Virtually all prepaid cards are wanting SSN or at least performing some sort of Address Verification.
Simon gift cards appear to be the best bet for now, BUT, you have to get them in person for actual anonymimity. For those of us that don’t have a Simon card center close to us, we are again out of luck.
Perhaps there could be some way of setting up an intermediary with someone who lives close to a Simon gift card center who could then ship the Simon card to the purchaser. However, the anonymity then relies upon another variable that must be trusted implicitly. Not a good model.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I like the PaidByCash option, but it still requires the use of a Name and Address. This is no big deal unless you are actually wanting to purchase something physical online.
Then again, I guess no prepaid card can get around purchasing something physical that has to be shipped to you.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:59 am
what is the easiest way to fund an e-gold count annonymously? Also I need an anonymous virtual prepaid card that paypal will accept. There are sooo mayn rip offs out there someone please provide me with a little guidance pleas email me at codeslinger1337@hushmail.com
March 25th, 2008 at 11:04 am
also interested in a no withdrawl limit atm card if there is info on that. codeslinger1337@hushmail.com
March 29th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I do not have a single friend who does not have an illegal transaction performed against their debit or credit card. This is mainly because these idiotic Banks have farmed their work out to places where the staff are so badly paid that the temptation to commit fraud will always be high.
Yet these b*st**ds still insist on putting our details on their precious databases – even for an ‘anonymous’ card. I understand the terrorist threat, but the situation is now out of control.
Still waiting for a reloadable anonymous card…
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
[...] Anonymous Prepaid Credit CardsFacebook and the GovernmentThe a.K.a CardPassPack Password ManagerCaller ID Spoofing to be Made Illegala.K.a Card UpdatePassPub – Random Password GeneratorDirect Login Feature in ClipperzClipperz Online Password ManagerOhio Government Admits Losing 225,000 SSN’s [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Dear Mr. privacy guy,
You mentioned in another article that you use a virtual credit card for online payments. which company do you recommend for that purpose?
April 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Suppose you set up a Simon giftaccount (dofferent from a physical gift card) account online for a fictitious individual. Your actual credit card is linked to the giftaccount in Simon’s database, but when you use the account the merchant only sees the fake info. It won’t fool the FBI, but for purchases that you just don’t want on your CC bill or that you don’t want traced to you if the merchant’s database is hacked it sounds okay. Assuming that what you want to buy is legal, if private, there is no reason for anyone to be trying unravel the thread.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I’m pissed that I can’t use my Vanilla Visa prepaid card online. Waste of time.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
The vanilla gift card is almost always usless online as it usually won’t except the 3 number code on the back for me. However I found out that sometimes if you put the word vanilla down for the code instead it will except it. I was desperate when I tryed that and very surprized when it excepted it. unfortunatly this will only work around 20-25 percent of the time.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Well I’m about ready to give up.
Endless scams- beautiful sites that lead to cheap unsecured order forms a 7 year old could write.
With misspellings all over the place:
$100 card for $185 (yeah, right!)
Simon gift account: Problem:
Site is eternally “OUT OF ORDER” when it comes to processing your transaction.
Seems to be the best option, as long as you get lucky with their pay processing website.
Others have had this problem for over a year according to other blogs.
Entropay:
Got through creating an account, & card.
Problem is the card funding is confusing and DOESN’T work.
They lead you to believe you have a card, then
they email you one day later:
“We need a photocopy of your passport or Driver’s license”- (yeah, right!) NEXT!
(I see other people get this email too)
Why don’t they tell you up front???
Cashu:
Got through creating an account.
Problem: You can only fund it with a “uKash Voucher” !!
WTF!!!!
There is no easy answer ppl.
Big brother has got you shackled and the vultures are swarming around you looking for a meal.
May 18th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I have not had any problems purchasing items online with my Vanilla Visa. I have used Amazon and Target.com to make purchases as well as a gaming website and they all went through fine. However I don’t think you can use the gift card right away as they have to be activated by Visa before you can make any purchases. You can see if Visa has activated it by going to Vanilla Visa’s website and seeing the transactions that have been made on the card.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Have any of you tried to activate your card online? The Matercard Vanilla says that it needs to be activated on their site before it can be used for phone or online orders.
oh, also, could you maybe call company (instead of their website) and order by phone. Maybe that way the transaction will actually work.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Hello everyone,
I would like to hear everyone’s comments on the “perfect” anonymous credit card. We are evaluating an opportunity to provide a card very similar to the Simon Card (actual card vs virtual), the ability to purchase online after registering in the name and address of your choosing, and the ability to purchase over the internet or phone.
We’re looking for your thoughts on how you would like to purchase, add funds (cash, check, transfer, other?) and control access or use of such a card.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Jonathan,
Hi, great article …very informative w/o a lot of b/s I didn’t need to know or care to share …headed to CVS,Rite Aid….to get a Vanilla Visa…just what I had been searching for . Thank YOU !
“9″
June 13th, 2008 at 7:40 am
I live about 20 min from a simon mall.I have bought the simons cards before as gifts but never used them myself.I know they work at any store as a debit/creditcard but dont know how they work online.I will pick up a simons gift card and try it online to buy some products.I will post later to let you know if it worked.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Ps
Nice site.good info.keep up the good work.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:56 am
My business partner and I are looking to enter the anonymous card market. Believe it or not, it is possible to offer a physical card that can be registered to the name and address of the buyer’s choice. THe card can be used for online transactions that use address verification.
Our question — how would you be willing to fund such a card? If we offered an ability to fund through a electronic check, would this be sufficient? If not, what type of payment system would you be willing to use?
We’re looking for your thoughts on how you would like to purchase, add funds (cash, check, transfer, other?) and control access or use of such a card.
Any suggestions will help us provide the ultimate anonymous card service for you in the future.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
CVS and other stores also sell American Express Gift cards. The fees are the same as the Vanilla Visa. I’ve had positive experiences using these cards on-line. The cards are activated at the register and don’t require any personal information.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:43 am
My biggest complaint with the vanilla prepaid cards is they charge as much as 5% for the card ($5.00 fee for a $100 card).
Does anyone sell them for less?
July 6th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Testing the merging of comments.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
i bought two vanilla visa card, one $25 value and the other $50. i tried using them but its no use. i gave up and tried to link it to my paypal acc. it is linked now and when i tried to use it at the same site using my paypal account, it says “failed paypal recognition”. now i know not to buy these cards, they’re garbage.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Have anyone tried Corbie Card (Mastercard)?
http://www.corbiecard.com/ (CorbieCard.com)
Sounds good & funny…any clues of that working?
Pro:
(1) They may not ask for your SSN
(2) Claims to work as credit card(not debit card). Hotels and etc wouldn’t think twice about you.
(3) Minimum primary card age is 16?
(4) Reasonable limit up to US$25000
(5) Works in US Dollars (UK based?)
(6) No inactivity or monthly fees.
(7) Have affiliate program (reseller)
(8) No credit check and those usuals.
Con:
(1) Their site is too simple.
(2) Ordering pages are not SSL encrypted (not https)
(3) Online customer service only
(4) Not sure about their reliability on communications.
(5) Fees not explained. Claims further fees besides security and card depend on the usage.
(6) No online reviews about them or testimonials.
(7) Too good to be true?
p/s: Contacted them but no replies as yet. Seen them around online since 2002 but dissed as scam then. They’re still around?
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
So, do I understand this correctly?
Putting aside the LEGALITY of doing this, it is not possible to get an anonymous credit card to use on line, even using a made up name and address and a made up SSN becuase they are now verifying the SSN to a name?
Someone please help me out here if I have that wrong.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
can you tell me more about the Corbie Card? i can’t find any more information on google. it seems almost like a scam to me.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I was only able to purchase from Amazon.com with the Visa Giftcard. It was really disappointing.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
[...] pre-paid digital card, but can’t that still be tracked back to the original Paypal account? Here’s the link and here’s the info: January 6th, 2008 at 12:47 pm recd this from paypal recently. Thank you [...]
October 17th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Guys have you don’t know EntroPay?
I opened for free EntroPay card and loaded it with 10 GBP – IT WORKS FINE WITH PAYPAL.
IT’S ANONYMOUS CARD + YOU CAN LOAD AND WIDTHDRAW TO WORLDWIDE BANK ACCOUNT + FUND WITH YOU HOME COUNTRY CREDTI CARD.
It’s a perfect solution.
I know another good virtual anonymous cards which comes with bank account.If you want to know more visit my website and contact me.
Best Regards
Nick Niceman
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Corbie looks like a big fat scam. The English is bad, it’s not secure. I’d stay the heck away from those guys. Smells like Nigeria to me…
October 31st, 2008 at 10:19 am
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November 9th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Does anyone know if the vanilla visa can be used on craigslist.com or backpage.com to pay for listing fees??
November 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Working girl……..I am using a “priceless MC” to post to CL. Haven’t tried BP yet so no comment on them. When you post at CL, at the screen that ask for all your CC info it says “no gift cards” but I have been using mine regularly with no problems.
When you buy and register the card use a bogus name/address/phone/SSN/3 digit code on back, but remember the name and address you used. When posting make sure to use that same name/address as when you registered that card, works fine for me since they imposed this ridiculous fee for adult ads.
Forget the Greendot cards or any of the re-loadable cards, stick to gift cards only, in whatever denomination you want….I get $25 card and can post 5 ads with it. When is done, trash the card and start over. If CL ever closes that loophole at least you wont be out too much cash.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
friendly guy, where did u get that card? and what type of card is it exactly?
November 18th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
i had went to the bank and got a mc gift card but it didnt work when i got home and at the bank they didnt ask for any info
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Friendly Guy -
Yet another gal trying to find an anonymous card for posting CL ads. Please, please, please provide more detailed info about this card so I can get one. Your help is MUCH APPRECIATED!
December 19th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I need a DEBIT card (preferrably VISA) to send to my son who is abroad.
Since I need to CONTROL his expenses and spendings, the card must be RELOADABLE by me here in the U.S. at increments of my choice.
Where can I avail of such a card?
December 27th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
1st you have to register your card on the Vanilla Website to be able to make online transactions. So much for anonymity. Second, this card does not work everywhere. Tried it @ Wal-Mart and gas station, no luck. Call the 800 number provided, no one to speak to. I called Silverton Bank in Georgia (they issue the cards), they said they were having system errors and would call me back. Never heard from them. You have to pay 3.95 fee for a $25 card. You have to pay them 16% up front to use your own money. Don’t waste your time or money!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Vanilla Card is a SCAM!!
Will not work anywhere.
Card shows balance on website ok, but worthless!!
Email told me that it will not pass AVS checks since it only uses the zip code.
WASTE OF MONEY FOLKS, get it out there!
DON’T BE TAKEN!
January 31st, 2009 at 3:30 pm
So, to dust off and sum up this article. There are NO truly anonymous pre paid cards that will work online. this is pathetic. it’s time to return to cash, act locally and possibly start looking into gold bars. You may want to start researching the “Amero” as is will soon be our new currency.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I work for a telemarketing company who sells services on behalf of another company. If we get a customer who is interested in signing up, they are required to give us a credit or regular debit card number, which we then pass on to our client for processing. If the card turns out to be prepaid or reloadable, we do not receive credit for the sale because the client does not accept them. Since we don’t actually run the card number ourselves, we often don’t know if the card number a customer givs us is reloadable/prepaid unless the customer mentions it. Not all customers are savvy to the difference, so often asking them doesn’t help. Other than the obvious, what questions I can have our sales force ask customers to determine if the card is a regular debit card that’s tied to a checking account, or if it’s a prepaid/reloadable card? Are there any visible differences on the card itself? Any help you can provide would be appreciated!
February 13th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
To Edgat – You will NOT control your son. You will NEVER get a card that can only be loaded by you. He is responsible for HIMSELF. YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HIM. PERIOD!!!
February 15th, 2009 at 11:57 am
The Simon Card requires registration online as well as activation. Is the information collected “spoofable” or is it verified and can the Simon card (prepaid) be used online ?
Thanks.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Seems like some knowledgable people here. Let’s see if I can get some direction. I have an offshore business and need to pay people that do affiliate work onshore. My thoughts were they each get a reloadable card and I do a batch transfer each week to pay them for their work. It could be up to a couple thousand a week each (USD) if they are productive. Paypal has mass payments via a comma delimited file however they (Paypal) are always screwing something up and the recipient still has to get it into their bank account and out to use it. I have been looking for a debit card that can be reloaded and I can fill them possibly with a payroll software using a direct deposit feature to the card. I prefer an offshore card to fill as I don’t want to deal with US banking, let them report their taxes but I don’t even want to deposit to the US. They make their affiliate money and I put it on their offshore card. They can report the income and take out the money via ATM or use it like a Visa/MC. I don’t know how important it is for whatever card they get to be 100% anonymous but skipping a SSN to get it would be a good idea for them I expect. ANy ideas? Anyone? EntreJPreneur@gmail.com thx!
March 7th, 2009 at 3:22 am
So, sites regularly do AVS checks right, but am I to understand that international orders online also do CV checks. I’m in need of a card to use for an international transaction, would PrivaCash work for me?
March 10th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
so after reading all the above posts…bottom line is there really doesn’t exist a truly anonymous form of online card paymant any longer
March 13th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Well, it appears that it’s definitely getting harder and harder to use them online. I’m beginning to think the use of a physical card in the real world is getting easier, as long as you don’t mind the pre-auth’s staying on the card for a few days. Definitely doesn’t look good.
I still want to pick a bone with the car rental companies that won’t accept cash for rentals. If I’m not mistaken, doesn’t it say somewhere on cash that it can be used for all debts and it’s legal tender of the US gov’t? Is it right for anyone to deny you using cash?
April 8th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I HATE the vanilla visa hard. Received four of them $25 each in San Fransisco. You can’t use two to buy a $40.00 (or similar amount) item.
Also they are declined about 75% of the time I try to use them.
I am back in NC and they decline constantly – so all the money I have on them is lost now (assuming it’s a zip code issue).
YES these cards are a scam!!
April 24th, 2009 at 7:21 am
when you register the simon gift card online, do they require a valid SSN?
April 29th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
These are anonomous as well. IT says on the pack you have to regiter info to use it online, but this is not the case. You just use the name Simon Card and it will work.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I just found a Visa card at local Jewel in Illinois called “The Ideal Gift”. It costs 5.95 and is non-reloadable, but if you register it at http://www.giftcardmall.com/visagift you can use it online. Just make up a name and address when you register and use it on your purchase. Unlike the vanilla card, it works with web sites outside the United States.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
All,
Two thoughts. I have bought a card from Walgreens and registered it (many actually) on line at http://www.gift2go.net and used any name and info you like. It is a physical card and has cvs # on the back. takes about 4 hours to activate, and then I can use them online. – never been rejected except for balance issues..:) LOOK on the back of the gift card for “gift2go”!!!
If you want to take it one step further, as it is hard to use exact amounts on the cards without loosing their values, then take the card and transfer the amount to a WWWcard (www.www-card.com. This no physical card has a reload ability and has the ability to make the card in any name and info you like. So I guess depending on your level of desire to be unknown… you could go directly to the wwwcard site with your regular card. I have not had too much experience with this site so – do some research on it people…
May 30th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I’m a bit of a privacy freak myself. (I work in IT and I see first hand all the things that can go wrong, you’re quite right to protect these things.
have a look here: http://datalossdb.org/
I’m looking for a virtual card that doesn’t need an SSN. (Paypal used to offer these.. not anymore, at least, not w/out an SSN)
Doing a search for “virtual credit cards pecunix” (or just “virtual credit cards”) yields a huge number of hits. Most of them are really expensive! and upon further investigation, are probably scams. (and when you investigate alternative funding options, such as pecunix.. it’s like a trip into the wild-west)
I know about privacy-center.com, but I’m having some problems talking to them.
Anyone know of another site that has them?
I’ve got to pay my phone bill pretty soon and w/out the paypal card numbers I used to use.. this is cutting it kind of close.
Would be nice if they were cheap and supported different e-currencies. (I kind of like the ideas behind pecunix, albeit the culture surrounding it is less than desirable)
Thanks!
June 4th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
please help.. trying to post on CL adult services and my Visa ALL access prepaid debit used to work find for months and now my ads are being rejected.. I do massage but don’t want to use my personal credit card with name , address etc..
thank you for reading.. tina
June 13th, 2009 at 12:34 am
I’ve seen a lot of posts regarding the Simon Card and the Vanilla Card.
Can I hear some more reviews of the cards from Ultimate Anonymity? The website seems reputable.
June 18th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Get MasterCard Debit Card with ACH Deposit feature FOR FREE!
A solution is here just follow the following steps to get a debit card without any kind of credit history check. This site is specially for you people who are non us citizen and want a MasterCard to do some business. just follow the following steps and get a master debit card at your door steps absolutely FOR FREE.
STEP 1
click this link. Click here http://tinyurl.com/nl9rhy
Then click JOIN or SIGNUP.
Fill in all the details as directed in that site.
Then you are sent an email to verify.
Open your email and then verify your account.
Fill the form as directed. Many of the details are not needed if your are a not from United States.
After filling all the forms just login and open your account setting.
Scroll down and you will find a link that says get paid using Debit Card.
Then you will end up in partner site. signup for a MasterCard Debit Card here.
Fill in the form correctly in 1 try , then submit the form.
They will send you an email saying that sent you a MasterCard at the specified address.
CONGRATULATION YOU NOW OWN A MASTERCARD. They will send it to you by post!
Delivery may take 20 business day to 2 month.
Now enjoy your new MasterCard
CARD Features:
1)Load funds by any Credit Card
2)Load funds by Western Union
3)Load card by ACH/Direct Deposit method – THIS MAKES POSSIBLE TO WITHDRAW FROM PAYPAL!!!
4)Use card like usual debit card at shops, ATM’s and Internet.
5)Pin code is not mailed with card , you must setup Pin code via website area.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
[...] Anonymous Credit/Debit Cards | The Privacy GuyIt is through this article that I found out about Vanilla Visa prepaid debit cards. You can get these prepaid debit card/gift cards from CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreens and a couple other [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Does anyone know if the Vanilla Visa cards are widely accepted at physical locations? I am considering buying some of these for an upcoming trip out of the country. I just don’t want to carry a bunch of cash and I need privacy regarding my money.
October 1st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I did make online purchases with the plain WalMart gift card. (Not the Green Dot reloadable) I simply purchased a card for $100 and was able to make online purchases with it when I got home. I did sign into the account to check my balance, and it never asked me for SSN. Maybe CVS are different? I’ll have to go try one. My customers were just asking about this. (Great site by the way!!)
October 25th, 2009 at 10:48 am
After reading all the comments on this page, I decided that the only way to know for sure was to just do it. I went to CVS and purchased a $100 card, it says “VISA GIFT CARD” in large letters on the packaging, and “Vanilla Gift Card” in smaller letters down below. The card cost $105.95. I used it less than two hours later at an online store to purchase some anti-virus software (which I would download to my computer, so a mailing address would not be too important). In the shopping cart, I used a completely ficticious name and address and phone number, but the address is a (technically) real address of a skyscraper in Seattle, Washington; I made sure to use an appropriate area code and zip code. The credit card transaction went through smoothly. I never signed in or went through any activation process, other than purchasing it at the CVS counter. Therefore, said transaction was truly anonymous. Technically, law enforcement could subpoena my bank records, and DEDUCE that I withdrew $120 at a nearby ATM, and purchased a $100 gift card 10 minutes later, but that’s a stretch, and it would involve reviewing CVS’s security camera recordings as well. What if I carried the cash in my pocket for a week? I think the VISA gift card is the answer. Keep in mind, however, that it is not reloadable. When it gets low (say, $10.25 left), I can just carry it with me on my next grocery-shopping trip, and use $10.25 plus the balance in cash. So the total cost of an anonymous dollar is $1.06. That “tax” is worth it at times, if you want basic anonymity.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Sorry to inform everyone…no plastic card purchased in the U.S. or from a U.S.-basesd financial institution is anonymous. All of them require that you give up your anonymity. The “vanilla’ will not allow online payments(no way around that). WARNING: Do not buy any prepaid/debit/gift cards from CVS, Wal-Mart,Walgreen’s, Eckards, or anywhere in America. Buy prepaid cell phones(do not register the number)and do not use them to buy pizza…then turn around a skirt the law with that phone. You have just given up your position. Use a disposable(prepaid) phone for Western Union and do not use that phone for anything else but Western Union and just for that one alias. A HUGE database connecting numbers together is already amassed. So, so much to tell you..so, so little time to share. Be back when it’s safe. I mean when I get time.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:51 am
. Wells Fargo bank offers a prepaid visa credit gift card that works just like a credit card and can be purchased by cash – loaded up to any denomination. When you want to use it online, just go to the Wells Fargo website ( info is on the back of the card ) and input an alias with what ever address you pull out of the phone book ect…
It costs about $5.00 per card and cannot be reloaded. You may have to be a member of Wells Fargo to purchase it; however since it is a gift card you can have a friend or family member purchase it with cash, give it to you and then in turn, you can add the info online. I bought two last week, no questions asked, no personal info linked to the cards and was able to make anonymous online purchases. Hope this helps.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:35 am
What I find surprising is that Privacy Guy, who said he was doing his OWN research and would be back to update us in January 2008, has NEVER returned.
I seriously doubt he has done any substantial research whatsoever.
He promised us a thorough summary.
Privacy Guy is the one that talked of the vanilla cards which have been proven over and over again to be worthless. He has said he would present us with all the alternatives which he himself has supposedly been “researching” along with summarizing comments left here.
Yet he has not done so. And it is his website.
All I can say is … really crappy job, dude. Way to let your site go to hell. Clearly, privacy and these types of cards, and all they entail, holds no interest for you. Perhaps you should just shut your site down if you aren’t going to keep it up to date.
February 4th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Doesn’t sound good. If you want to be anonymous, then only sure way is a MO (or cash at a POS), and can’t use it online. Have to use snail mail. Moral: do NOT buy online if you can avoid it!
February 8th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
I’ve been able to use prepaid cards online. My challenge is that I want to get paid for running ads on my website, yet I want to remain anonymous due to the subject matter of my site. Anyone been able to accept payments, such as through PayPal by linking a prepaid card, without revealing their real name? I have an LLC which the website is affiliated with, but am concerned that I would have to reveal my real name to the bank to open an account under the LLC name- so accepting payments by check, money order, etc., is also problematic.
February 15th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
You might want to try gift 2 go prepaid visa cards cards because you can use them online and they don’t have to be registered. They can be purchased at any Walgreens in 30, 50, or 100 dollar amounts. I have not had any problems using these cards whatsoever.
http://gift2go.net/
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 pm
OceanusInternationalConcierge.com
Club membership comes with Visa debit reloadable up to $2,500 per day with a card max of $9,000. No SSN required. You need to fax them a copy of ID and the card will be issued in name on card. I think you can also add company name to card.
Two memberships:
$49/yr – debit card plus members-only discounts on VOIP, etc.
$149/yr – debit card plus address plus members-only discounts on VOIP, etc.
You sign up online (only a name, email and location) and then you get instructions to pay by paypal, moneygram or western union and fax an ID. After you have your card, you can even load with cash at one of the big nationwide banks. (I have never done this myself, so far I’ve always used W.Union.)
One thing I love besides high balance I can keep on card is VOIP service. My vonage bill got up to $40.00 but now for $32.38, I have biggest membership, reloadable/replaceable debit card, remote address, VOIP telephone line that I can take anywhere. (Oh, and you can get an unlimited number of additional VOIP lines for $1.00 per YEAR. I got one and sent it to relative in U.K. so he calls me in U.S. for free.)
March 4th, 2010 at 10:46 am
The Patriot Act has removed any possibility of privacy in regard to *any* financial transaction. Justifiably, it is done to prevent money laundering and track activity which could be indicative of terrorist activity. (You can not return an item to Home Depot for a cash refund either without someone entering your drivers license number into a “big brother” system.) Nonetheless, U.S. citizens sacrifices our freedoms because of law enforcements/ homeland security’s inability to perform due diligence on this type of activity without encroaching on our rights as citizens. We’re on the grid and tracked like bits and bytes across the national infrastructure. We are the dolphins caught in the tuna net. [I figured this out on my own. I don't *know* anybody. Nor have I been exposed to any confidential information regarding this practice by Homeland Security. I am just not an ape.]