Security questions

cardiogirl

I am getting increasing annoyed by banks & other organisations phoning me up & then asking me to tell them my personal details to get through security. Recently I've made a complaint to Nationwide. Someone called me about it from an unidentified 0845 number & then expected me to give them personal details before they would speak to me. When i explained that i was more than happy to answer security questions if I'd called them, but would not if essentially a stranger called me, she just referred it up. The supervisor who called me back later still didnt seem to get it so is writing to me! It also cannot be discussed via email or though messages within my online  account. It can't be just me who feels this system is nonsensical - or is it?

boingy

Yep, it's nonsensical. It has been discussed elsewhere on this forum.

The Co-op block money transfers, even to accounts you have previously transferred to, then they wait two days then phone you from a withheld number and start asking security questions. I pointed out that they were behaving exactly like a scammer so they gave me the (chargeable)  fraud number to call back on. I checked the number online, rang it and was on hold for one hours and six minutes and then subjected to a whole raft of dumb questions! If they are going to do this stuff they need to take on more staff and streamline the questions. I made a complaint about the length of the wait, the cost of the call and the over-zealous nature of the questioning. Then I moved all our accounts. We'd been with them over 20 years. 

Shakin_Steve

On a scammers programme on BBC this morning, an 'expert' said the one word you should beware of is 'confirm'. "Can you confirm your NI number" as if they have sight of it already. 

So you're right, scammer type behaviour.

TheBanker

I understand the frustration of the first two posters.

But both refer to the number the bank is calling from. It makes no difference whether you recognise it or not, or if it's withheld. Numbers can be spoofed. So you are right to be cautious, but please don't relax your guard because the number they're calling from looks right.

The best option is to call the bank back on a known genuine number (or call 159 which can connect you to the correct number for some banks). I appreciate waiting times can be painful and you would have a legitimate complaint if you can't speak to someone in a reasonable time period. 

MalMonroe

Hi, you need to phone them, rather than respond to any call they make to you.

I am also a Nationwide customer and I know that their phone number does not begin with 0845. 

Any numbers you are given by 'an employee of your bank' (aka scammer) will connect you directly to more scammers. Do not phone them. 

What TheBanker says, above, is spot on. Scammers can spoof phone numbers and pretend to be bank staff and this is how they are getting away with robbing unsuspecting victims blind.

There is no system. What you have to do if you want to speak to someone at your bank is phone the number on the back of your debit card. (As I say, the number does NOT begin 0845). 

You said "It also cannot be discussed via email or though messages within my online  account." and I say 'GOOD, hopefully you won't lose your money'. 

Please do contact Nationwide, though, using the number on the back of your card because they need to know that a scam has been attempted on your account. 

If the person you spoke to on the phone does actually write to you, then please phone Nationwide again using only that number on your card. 

Someone is after your money. Please don't let them have it. They are persistent.

cardiogirl

OK, here is a bit more context. I am away traveling in Spain & Portugal & thought I had lost my credit card. I called NW to report it to be told that my credit card account had been cancelled months ago and had not been valid since even though the expiry date on the card was for next year sometime. I was able to see the account within my online accounts as it had a credit balance of about £20. When I questioned this & asked why I had not been told about it he had no idea. To cut a longish story short, I submitted a verbal complaint.
I was called a day or so later by the complaints team as mentioned above. Due to the timing of my complaint, I am pretty certain the call was not a scam, but that is not the point I was making above. One  call from the complaints staff was from a 0345 & 1 from an 0800 number, sorry, not 0845 as mentioned above.
As it costs me £2 a day to use calls & texts, I said that I could receive calls, but I was not prepared to call them and this is where the standoff started.
It's not just this time, I appreciate that it's unusual circumstances currently, but it has been annoying me for a long time that organisations expect me to give sensitive data both when I call them & they call me which can only help the scammers.
No doubt there will be a letter when I get home in 2 weeks or so and I will make that call,  but that isn't really my point.
PS Just to add that I was asked to phone the number on the back of my credit card to speak to the complaints team when i would not answer security questions, but she was completely flummoxed when I said that the card had been stolen so how could I access a safe number to call!

TheBanker

So in summary you didn't want to discuss your account on an incoming call for obvious reasons. Perfectly understandable. 

You didn't want to call them back because it would cost too much money. Also perfectly understandable.

What would you prefer - that they discuss your personal financial details with whoever answers the phone, without checking that it's you?

So they said they will send a letter instead. Not sure what other solution they could have offered, really. I would have expected them to go further if you were stranded abroad without any money, but it doesn't sound like you were, or that resolving the issue with the card is particularly urgent.

PS You said the card is visible in online banking. The bank's online service will also display their contact numbers, so that's how to find them if you don't have your card. 

Eyeful

1. It is my understanding that the number given on the back of cards, is for YOU to call into the bank.

2. If anyone calls you & tells you to check the number they are calling from is the same the number as that, on the back of the card, they are definitely a scammer! 

3. Banks do not do outward calls using the number on the back of cards.

Rob5342

I've had this a few times. The trouble is when you phone the bank yourself they often don't know what the first call was about and can take a while to find out, on one occasion they said they'd get someone to call me back!

boingy

The person at NatWest had no idea why they had blocked a £250 transfer. She suggested it might be because the transaction was done at 6am. When I facetiously asked whether I should restrict my banking activities to office hours she backtracked quicker than a backtracking champion and stressed that it was 24 hour banking but then still asked me a bunch of questions before she would unblock it. Surely they only need to ask one question to cover their backside: "Are you sure you want to make this transfer?". 

DullGreyGuy

Eyeful said:

2. If anyone calls you & tells you to check the number they are calling from is the same the number as that, on the back of the card, they are definitely a scammer! 

3. Banks do not do outward calls using the number on the back of cards.

Not sure 3 is universally true; there is absolutely no reason why they couldnt and it would make very good sense that they did such that if you called the number back you'd go into the queue to speak to someone. Its certainly better than the RBS/Natwest approach that used to show some random number which if you called back just said "someone from RBS has tried to call you, if its important they will try again" or words to that effect and then hang up on you.

For many years now big business has used VOIP telephone solutions and so their systems are programmed to decide which telephone number to display as the reality is that the agents system has no single fixed telephone number. This is particularly helpful in multi-discipline or multi-brand call centres where I can call a customer of our brand X and it shows one number if my next call is to our brand Y it shows a different number... again so if the customer calls back it will hit my team's hunt group but will introduce the correct brand for the agent to answer "thanks for calling..." X or Y as appropriate.

Someone who's not very good at their job and does work for a bank could in theory say 2 but certainly it would be a red flag to me too as its very poor proof of it being a legitimate caller.

Ultimately, ask for their name/department/extension and say you'll call the company back on the main number as per back of your card or whats in your address book etc and will ask to be transferred.