How's this for identifying genuine/fraudulent phone calls?

eDicky

I've just received an email from my bank announcing a new measure in place, which seems to be a simple but effective way to verify that it's genuinely the bank calling me, and not a fraudster, when I receive such a call:

We will notify you on "My Messages" whenever BBVA calls you.

From now on, should you receive a phone call from BBVA and to ensure that it is an agent of our customer service who contacts you, you will always receive a verification notice in the personal section "My messages".

During the phone call with our agent you will be reminded to check the notice received on the app, if you want to do so, here are the steps to follow:

I realise that not everyone wants to use banking apps, and the system may be less simple for banks that are not app-only. But considering the frequency of fraudulent calls, and the doubts arising when calls are actually genuine, it seems like a useful system..(?)

(BBVA is a major Spanish bank, my account is with their Italian outfit.)

Shakin_Steve

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6481632/new-security-measure-from-monzo#latest

Emmia

I suspect that scammers will quickly latch onto this "verification" - if they're calling you, why can't they also text?

SiliconChip

Emmia said:

I suspect that scammers will quickly latch onto this "verification" - if they're calling you, why can't they also text?

It's not a text, it's a secure message, which is an entirely different thing.

Zopa_Trooper

I'm now at ground zero with this, I don't deal with anybody on the phone unless I have made the call.

GreenScepter

Zopa_Trooper said:

I'm now at ground zero with this, I don't deal with anybody on the phone unless I have made the call.

I suspect a lot of people are like this. I usually do the same, which usually works since genuine banks seem to never contact me anyway, until recently.

I recently received probably the only genuine call ever from my bank the other week and it was just a "courtesy call" to see how things were since I was a new customer. But I felt extremely hesitant, explained as much on the phone. They proved it by mentioning that I went into a local branch recently (it was this branch they called from) and mentioned a specific product I opened recently so I knew it was real. But still, even with proof, it felt unnecessary and with so many scams going around it felt silly to concern a customer out of "courtesy" (drumming up more business).

Banks should probably not phone customers at all unless it's a severe issue that needs attention, and even then they should handle it with care and should know that 99% of customers will treat it with suspicion.

boingy

Zopa_Trooper said:

I'm now at ground zero with this, I don't deal with anybody on the phone unless I have made the call.

I'm the same but the problem comes when your bank blocks a legitimate transfer because the first thing they do is ring you up, claim (correctly) to be your bank and then want to take you through security to unblock the transfer. Your option is to comply or to hang up then phone your bank and wait in the very long queue to sort it. I waited one hour and six minutes to get through to the Co-op. So any system that improves on that would get my vote.

friolento

eDicky said:

I've just received an email from my bank announcing a new measure in place, which seems to be a simple but effective way to verify that it's genuinely the bank calling me, and not a fraudster, when I receive such a call:

We will notify you on "My Messages" whenever BBVA calls you.

From now on, should you receive a phone call from BBVA and to ensure that it is an agent of our customer service who contacts you, you will always receive a verification notice in the personal section "My messages".

During the phone call with our agent you will be reminded to check the notice received on the app, if you want to do so, here are the steps to follow:

I realise that not everyone wants to use banking apps, and the system may be less simple for banks that are not app-only. But considering the frequency of fraudulent calls, and the doubts arising when calls are actually genuine, it seems like a useful system..(?)

(BBVA is a major Spanish bank, my account is with their Italian outfit.)

Starling and Chase have been sending verification codes in their respective app for some time. Even when you call them.