I normally wouldn’t write about how having bad credit might have some perks, but I found this rather amusing. According the to rant from a VC, AT&T will allow you have a prepaid phone plan with the iPhone and therefore no contract.  However if your credit is too good, AT&T forces you onto a 2 year contract with the iPhone.

While I haven’t tried this myself, I imagine one could circumvent the system by putting the iPhone under the name of a minor.  I imagine most minors, given that they don’t have a credit history have poor credit. I could easily imagine someone signing up for the iPhone under his or her child’s name and social security number to avoid the otherwise mandatory 2 year contract.  Or if you want to avoid using your child’s social security number you can follow this guy’s advice. Using a bogus social security number might seem a little morally ambiguous, but given you’re basically guaranteeing AT&T payment, it’s hard to say how exactly other than a bit of dishonesty.