Bank calling you and asking for security information

Andystriker

Give them incorrect answers to the security questions they ask and if they are genuine they will say thats not the right answer

shaneshaneshane

and probably block your account lol

Gromitt

shaneshaneshane wrote: »

and probably block your account lol

Unlikely, considering they phoned you. They'll just assume you are not who you say you are and terminate the call.

System

Gromitt wrote: »

I got one of those calls. They rang and asked me to prove who I was. I stated to them that they rang me, and so they should prove themselves first, then I would answer their security questions. They agreed. I asked them for the last letter of my post code and the amount of pence in my last cash deposit (so £10.42 would be 42). They then proceeded to thank me for being cautious

Erm, if they looked at your account to check the 42 pence, then didn't they break Data Protection Rules by looking at your details without first getting confirmation of who you were and that you were authorised to give them access to your details (Catch 22)

I would expect that if a bank phones me, they should give a good explanation of the reason for the phone call before they start asking any specific questions about me or my accounts. If I was not already aware of the background reason, then I would phone back using a phone number I know.

tagq2

BAA1 wrote: »

Erm, if they looked at your account to check the 42 pence, then didn't they break Data Protection Rules by looking at your details without first getting confirmation of who you were and that you were authorised to give them access to your details (Catch 22)

A specific challenge-response could be set up: both legitimate parties have two words, e.g. "sack" and "balls", set up in advance, with the caller showing his hand first. The bank rep calls up and the client expects "balls". If the bank gives it, the bank rep expects the "sack" in return. No personal data is revealed - well, not that personal, anyway.

(Sorry.)

pinkdalek

BAA1 wrote: »

Erm, if they looked at your account to check the 42 pence, then didn't they break Data Protection Rules by looking at your details without first getting confirmation of who you were and that you were authorised to give them access to your details (Catch 22)

I would expect that if a bank phones me, they should give a good explanation of the reason for the phone call before they start asking any specific questions about me or my accounts. If I was not already aware of the background reason, then I would phone back using a phone number I know.

By that method it would also imply they have broken the data protection act by looking up your phone number!

Ask your bank for details on how they use and store your data, you will find in this scenario they are not breaching data protection act rules by confirming the balance.

wildheart83

Andystriker wrote: »

Give them incorrect answers to the security questions they ask and if they are genuine they will say thats not the right answer

I wouldn't advise doing this at all, it will very likely result in your phone banking access being blocked, because when I worked for one of the big high street banks we weren't allowed to tell the customer they had the answer wrong. We asked 3 questions and ee weren't allowed to say anything that could be interpreted as them having given a right or wrong answer.

missile

airflow wrote: »

Your bank or any other company calls and starts to ask you a couple of security questions before they get to the point of their call. Which is usually a sales pitch. Do you just answer them or do you refuse on the basis that they have called you, so how can you be sure they are who they say they are?

Lots of companies have started doing this over the last few years, but I thought the point of these telephone security questions was to ensure that the person who had made the call is who they say they are.

So far I have always refused and offered to call them back, but I am often made to feel like I'm the only one who does this.

So what do you all think, is it safe to answer these questions if you do business with the company and they call you?

Thanks

I have started to ask the purpose of their call. If they refuse, I either hang up or tell them to send me an SMS, write or e mail.

airflow

Thanks for all the replies, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who refuses to answer. In fact, not one reply saying "I just answer them".

If that's the case then why do they keep doing it? They seem happy to let us be slack with our security as long as they can be strict with theirs.

Even further to that, I think it is stupid of them to encourage people to divulge this information, it is surely only a matter of time before criminals realise they can get access to peoples information by calling and pretending to be from a company they do business with. Surely better to tell customers never to pass security data unless they know who they are talking to.

*Chattie*

TimBear wrote: »

When I was a victim of bank fraud recently, my bank were great in picking up on it straight away but they actually called me with an automated message saying basically that they were calling from the bank's fraud team and can I confirm a few security details using my keypad. Ummm, THEY called me!

I hung up and called the bank on the usual number to be sure.

I wouldn't ever give out personal details to someone who has called me. It's up to them to prove who they are, surely if they have called you??

I had a similar automated call which I ignored and called my branch. Turned out they were checking several small transactions on my account which were mine and my branch checked the transactions with me and gave me the number to call to confirm but I did complain that their message sounded pretty sus and I wouldn't be calling back the number they left.