Some may recall the series The Prisoner, special agent taken prisoner in some dystopian village, where all have numbers instead of names. The hero (Number 6) would shout "I am not a number! ".

Sometimes I feel like doing that. Proving that I am me can be  irritating. I don't drive, and it is years since I needed a passport. I now have one just for I.D.

The first time I had difficulty was over 20 years ago, when paying off our mortgage. No on-line banking, money transfers involved visiting the bank in person. We each had the same bank for years.

I presented the form, the payee a reputable building society. When asked for identification I innocently produced my debit card. Not good enough. Days before, this same person suggested a chat about making the most of my savings.

Back home to get my passport. Just a month out of date, but surely that would count. No recent utilities bill, but I had an old council tax bill.

Neither counted for diddly-squat. I ended up going to my solicitor, swore a declaration on a bible, and paid £5. He was outraged at the new laws.

Grudgingly this document was accepted. Phew! But no, despite having a joint account with either signature accepted, Spock had to go in with his proof.

As the Stasi - sorry cashier - finalised the transaction, I joked that we were actually a rather unusual pair of philanthropic criminals, paying off the mortgages of complete strangers. Never joke with these people 

All this palaver is said to prevent money laundering. Fair enough, it costs the country billions a year. However, despite all these restrictions on ordinary people, that particular crime has increased year upon year. An annual average of 2 prosecutions takes place. These are the big boys, not the likes of you and me. No one minds some inconvenience if it makes life safer for us all, but does it?

In my town it is a standing joke that a few businesses are very dodgy. One concerned citizen gave the police evidence of people trafficking at one premises. They did not even look into it. Serious money laundering often involves insiders employed by banks. Action is rare, presumably because it is bad publicity. Meanwhile they can appear to be doing something by coming down hard on the rest of us.

General fraud accounts for 38% of crime in the uk, yet just 3% of police time is given to it.

In other areas of life identity checks and red tape are increasing. I used to catch up on TV shows easily. Now channels that are free involve opening an account, more sodding passwords. It is the same buying stuff online. Presumably all this information can be sold on.

Among the documents I have had rejected are my birth certificate, insurance policy, divorce papers, bank statements, police check for voluntary work, a medical appointment. Meanwhile professional criminals easily obtain fake passports, driving licenses.

Are there any examples of "Computer says No" that drive you crazy?

Val

A Moodscope member