So funny that they should call it Waterloo University in an article on grammar. On an ironic note, when I was at the University of Waterloo, the it was usually the non-native english speakers who did the best on this because of their extensive training in taking the TOEFL. Most of these guys couldn't talk their way out of a wet paper bag.

All of a sudden I see chainmail coming back into fashion!

I agree, although I would also suggest using real numbers. In data-mining its a relatively annoying but straightforward process of eliminating outliers. The would be your 555 numbers the 123 Yosemitie Sam Lanes and SSNs like 123456789. If you really want to be a pain in the ass you have to make sure that all the information corroborates plausibly...this makes you a data confounder and not just an outlier.