Banks asking for security checks

Jacey53

Am I a complete ratbag or does anyone else get irritated when a bank or whatever phones (out of the blue)and then asks you to prove who you are by asking a load of security questions?
They are never prepared to answer any questions I ask them to prove who they are.

boliston

The only time my bank has ever phoned me was when my card was fraudulently used. I certainly was not going to answer ANY questions from an incoming caller! I said I'd call them back using the number on the bank's website which I did, and it was a genuine call, but with so many bank scams it's best to never trust an inbound call to be genuine.

Kavanne

I'm sure you'd be even less pleased if they didn't ask any questions and ended up divulging all your bank information to a family member/friend/total stranger?

Jacey53

Kavanne wrote: »

I'm sure you'd be even less pleased if they didn't ask any questions and ended up divulging all your bank information to a family member/friend/total stranger?

The situation i am talking about is where they call to sell me another product rather than to deal with something specific on my account.

What i am saying is that they ask me to take on trust that they are who they say they are and divulge something confidential.
It is not even-handed in terms of security.

hoyles10

It really irritates me when people ring asking security questions before telling me what they want. I now tell them to put something in writing to me in the post and i'll deal with it when I get it or if it's urgent I tell them to put a note on my account that i'll call back on their main number straight away.

LeeSouthEast

I never answer security questions from an inbound call until they satisfy me who they are or I ring them back

Viper_7

Ask them to remove you from their mail/shots and cold calling lists. They will then stop calling.

Register with TPS - Telephone preference service. They will see you are registered and will not call.

However, I'm more than happy they do perform security checks even if just cold calling, but sure they could be bogus and trying to get sensitive information from you. Banks would never ask for your account details or password etc.

Ivory_Tinkler

My bank rang me at work last week and did the same so I refused to give details because I was both at work and I didn't know who they were. The caller couldn't tell me why he was calling unless I could confirm who I was!! I later contacted the bank and they confirmed it was they who had rung me on a "customer services" call. I told them in no uncertain terms that I didn't want "customer services" calls at work thank-you very much and that I would contact them if I wanted anything.

mrbadexample

I find it most pleasing when I answer all the security questions, and then they transfer me to someone else. Who asks me all the security questions again. :rolleyes: <--want my smiley back.

mountainofdebt

I never give out details to anyone who claim to be from my bank etc without making some sort of check that they are who they say they are-eg by asking what my last payment was.

The reason for this is that I heard about scams where genuinely applied credit cards are intercepted and then the owner is contacted by the theives claiming to be from the credit card company. They then ask these questions - dob, mother's maiden name etc so they then have the info to phone the credit card company pretending to be the applicant and can reek all sorts of havoc.

I've often asked financial institutions why they couldn't be given an answer to a question - say where did I go to school - that the customer could ask just to satisfy themselves that the person on the end of the phone is who they say they are. The reason I usually got was that their systems didn't have the facility.......but surely it wouldn't be rocket science to add the facility?

oldone_2

If you are sure it is just a sales call, answer their security questions incorrectly, and then insist they are the right answers. Not a lot they can do then.