Since I don't expect to hear from them again I will go ahead and post my email correspondence with Mistertango support (timeline is from the bottom up, names and addresses have been removed...).
On Tue, 2017-08-01 Kanati wrote:
Hello again
"Borrowing" a friends smartphone would compromise their privacy and security just so I can get verified. You could easily get the documentation you need from a PC on the Internet, so I don't see any reason why you really need all these permissions on a smartphone...
Version 1.11.9 can access:
Location
precise location (GPS and network-based)
Phone
read phone status and identity
Photos/Media/Files
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Storage
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Camera
take pictures and videos
Device ID & call information
read phone status and identity
Other
receive data from Internet
view network connections
pair with Bluetooth devices
full network access
run at startup
draw over other apps
control vibration
prevent device from sleeping
If having a smartphone is a requirement then I won't be needing the service. Please delete my account if that is the case.
Sincerely,
Kanati.
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On Tue, 2017-08-01 Mistertango wrote:
We would like su suggest to borrow mobile device from someone for identification and after that you could use our service using computer.
Mistertango - Pagalbos centras / FAQs
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On Tue, 1 Aug Kanati wrote:
Hello
Thank you for your reply.
Since I will not be buying a smart phone just to use this service, I ask that you kindly close my account.
Sincerely,
Kanati
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On Tue, 2017-08-01 Mistertango wrote:
Hello,
I am writing to you to inform, that there is only one way to get your verification done - using Mistertango app.
Mistertango - Pagalbos centras / FAQs
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On Tue, 1 Aug Kanati wrote:
Dear Support department
I started to open a MT account, and saw I needed a smart phone to confirm my ID. Then I created a support case to ask if it is possible to use the service with a PC instead of a smart phone, but when I try to check the status of the support case the web page does not recognize my login credentials (which I also think is strange!).
Do I need a smart phone to use this service?
Sincerely,
Kanati.
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On Mon, 2017-07-31 Mistertango wrote:
Hey!
just wanted to remind you that free Mistertango payment account and free MasterCard is waiting for you. All you need to do is just to complete the registration.
Complete registration and order my Free MasterCard
Why is it worth to complete the registration at Mistertango:
Free MasterCard;
Free money transfers to EU banks;
No monthly service fees.
We are here to help You:
Mistertango support team is ready to help you via email [email protected] (I-V, 8:30-17:30)
Copyright © 2017 Mistertango, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have started a registration process at Mistertango.
Our mailing address is: Mistertango Perkūnkiemio g. 2 Vilnius LT-12126 Lithuania
Add us to your address book
A question for the forum -
Are these services truly "free" if you have to surrender your privacy and compromise your security to get them?
I opened a Mistertango account and I was very happy with the procedure. I am not royalty or a relative of the pope or the Sultan of Brunei so I am grateful and appreciate for the minimal effort and time required to open this account. I was neither asked to climb Mt Everest nor swim across the Pacific.
Positively identifying a client is a bank's core mandate and requirement. Lithuania is part of the EU and therefore observes strict KYC procedures.
The nerve and the audacity. Clients who throw tantrums or play the customer-is-king drama card are best contained quickly and advised to crawl back to that same hole they hibernated in or time-travel back to that age of no smartphones. They want this no-fee account. They want to be served in the year 2017, the age of smartphones. They want a means to move money from A to B. They want the free MasterCard. They want a bitcoin-friendly banking service. They want everything. But...
"Just don't ask me to do any work"
And then the bomb. The fellow thinks he is surrendering his privacy and compromising his security by signing up with a bank properly registered with Lietuvos Bankas, the Bank of Lithuania. He basically wants, additionally, to use a PC or some other device that will allow him (like many here) to bypass the very system which protects the bank from fraudulent applications. In his arrogant way of communicating with the bank, he makes every effort to convince the bank that HIS preferred way of doing it is the only way he wants it done. (try doing that with Citibank or Deutsche Bank or Credit Suisse or Bank of America...)
Nah, this strategy won't work. It's either you are truly throwing a tantrum OR you are attempting to fraudulently bypass Jumio, the intelligent identification system the bank has in place to thwart identity thieves.
One is best distanced from such people. Thus the third person talk.