Cat swipes own credit card

[TalonRider]

Cat swipes own credit card

Kate Jones

January 04, 2007 12:00am

Source: Melbourne's Herald-Sun

MESSIAH Campbell didn't have to become a cat burglar to grab a share of the credit.

The Melbourne moggy now has his very own Visa card thanks to his curious mistress, Katherine Campbell.

Ms Campbell wanted to test the limits of her bank's identity screening process and applied for a Visa credit card on her cat's behalf.

She was amazed when the two-year-old cat received a card with a $4200 limit.

"I just couldn't believe it," she said. "People need to be aware of this and banks need to have better security."

Ms Campbell applied for Messiah's card through the Bank of Queensland two weeks ago. The South Morang woman already has a card with the bank and wanted to see whether a second credit card for the same account would be approved for Messiah.

She filled out a form in Messiah's name, including his address and age, and sent it to the bank.

She said the bank requested identification from Messiah, but just days later sent him a card without receiving any proof of identification.

Ms Campbell said the envelope containing her cat's card, the letter inside and the credit card itself were all addressed to Messiah Campbell.

Ms Campbell, as the primary credit card holder, said she was not notified that a secondary card attached to her account had been issued.

Ms Campbell said she was shocked by how simple it was to bluff the bank's security system.

"It was very easy to do and I'm not even a professional crook," she said.

Though he hasn't bought anything on his fantastic plastic, Messiah has more than enough credit to splurge on gourmet cat chow.

With $4200, Messiah could afford three years' worth of expensive cat mince, a year's supply of smoked salmon and five servings of caviar.

A spokeswoman for the Bank of Queensland said the cat's card had been issued in error.

"We apologise, as this should not have happened," she said.