On 03/08/2011 10:34, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 3 Aug 2011 02:01:35 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Bob wrote in message
...
Just found out I had a Twitter account, I didn't open it but it had 2
followers despite no input from me at all. How can that happen?
Perhaps it might be worth those who haven't got an account checking that
they actually haven't.

It can't happen. You've been spammed and scammed.

You cannot have a Twitter (or Facebook) account if you haven't opened it
yourself, in the same way that you cannot discover you suddenly have an
account at Lloyds bank if you know you haven't ;-)

Plenty of people have found they have bank accounts that they never
opened. UK bank security is a disgrace. My wife forgot her
password/code for internet banking. She visited a bank to get a new
code. The only proof of ID they required was her debit card.

They are supposed to ask for a geographic correct address component as
well like a gas or water bill with your name on it. About 10 minutes to
forge one these days if you are so inclined. It shouldn't matter too
much if all they do is reset the password and send a new one out to the
registered cardholders address. I am amazed how difficult it is in the
UK to prove who you are to a bank in a satisfactory manner. Most bank
clerks do habitually get it wrong and I never volunteer information.

I particularly dislike unanswerable security questions on phone
banking/credit card transactions like name a road that connects to your
street. I answered "A19(T)" and they wouldn't accept that - it had to be
a named road! None of the local roads round here have had names in
living memory (though GPS systems do seem to have names for them).

I expect there are loads of "Martin Brown" twitter accounts. There were
12 of us globally on Compuserve in the very early days of the Internet
and there are a couple of thousand on LinkedIn today.

Regards,
Martin Brown