Obama Campaign Accepting Anonymous Credit Card Donations?

Is this legal?

From Little Green Footballs:

Credit card fraud is rampant in the Obama campaign, and it’s been verified.

In a nutshell: apparently, the Obama campaign disabled security checks that verify the name and address of a card-holder. So it’s possible to donate money using a real card, but a fake name and address.

Quite a few people have reported that they’ve tested the system and confirmed that this is happening. I’m a little skeptical, because I’m not aware of any online payment gateways that would allow a web site to disable security checks for name and address, but I’m not certain that it isn’t possible. Any LGF readers with experience in online payment systems are invited to chime in.

UPDATE at 10/23/08 12:45:23 pm:

Ace has more: Obama Campaign Finance Fraud Gains Traction.

UPDATE at 10/23/08 12:46:01 pm:

And more at Powerline: Power Line - Who is John Galt?

UPDATE at 10/23/08 12:57:45 pm:

Several LGF readers have now confirmed that it is indeed possible to configure an online payment gateway to ignore names and addresses. Most businesses don’t do it, because they would forfeit the ability to dispute charge-backs — but that’s apparently not an issue to the Obama campaign.

TODAY POWERLINE HAS MORE:

We noted here and elsewhere the astonishing degree of fraud that has fueled Barack Obama's record fundraising. The ultimate instance of Obama-fraud was achieved by a reader of The Corner:

So I went to the Obama website this afternoon and clicked on the "Donate" button.

I used my real MasterCard number (but was not asked for the 3 digit security code).

Used the following information and it was accepted...

First name: Fake
Last Name: Donor
Address: 1 Dollar To Prove A Point
City: Fraudulent
State: AL
Zip / Post: 33333
Email Address: allmyinfoismadeup@mediabias.com
Phone Number: 2125551212
Employer: Mainstream Media
Occupation: Being in the Tank

And incredibly, my $5 donation was ACCEPTED!!!

I then went to the McCain site and used the exact same information (and WAS asked for the 3 digit security code for my MasterCard). There, my contribution was rejected with the following message: "Your transaction was not approved for the following reason(s): Invalid data", and then: "We have found errors in the information that you have submitted. Please review the information below and try again."

I have screen shots and printouts of all of this as well.

Please tell me what I can do with this information? Is this a violation of FEC law by the Obama Campaign? How do we publicize this???

Everyone knows that Barack Obama has created the biggest money-machine of any politician in American history. But it is becoming increasingly evident that Obama's money-machine is largely fraudulent and therefore criminal. 

One can imagine a world in which newspaper reporters think it's a serious matter when a Presidential candidate tries to buy an election with illegal and fraudulent contributions. That, of course, is not the world that we live in. Have you seen Sarah Palin's shoes?