I'm in town with OH when his cellphone rings. It's for you, he says, puzzled, handing me the contraption.
I do not know anyone who would contact me on that number.
When I've figured out which way round to hold it, there's a voice from the depths of southern Asia telling me that this is my credit card company calling and they must check a few security details with me before they can tell me what it's about. They won't tell me anything until I answer their questions, as they want to be sure they are talking to the right person.
Huh? Someone rings me out of the blue about my credit card, on someone else's telephone, and wants to check my security details?
- How do I know you are who you say you are? I don't want to give any information over the telephone to a stranger. Can you tell me what this is about?
- I am sorry madam, I am not permitted to discuss anything about the account with you without first clearing your security details.
(Things like the colour of my grandmother's eyes, and the check digits on the back of the card. Things that would be jolly useful to someone wanting to use my card.) This really isn't a good time to call. OH and I in the middle of trying to buy a car. She is insistent. She suggests I call their customer service department, and starts to dictate a number.
- Sorry, I don't know who you are. I will ring the number on the back of my card.
It's a joint account, that's why they rang on OH's telephone. It transpires that someone had been trying to use my card to buy goods online "in the Pacific area" and the credit card company wanted to check it wasn't me. No, it wasn't. (Where in the Pacific area, I'm dying to know. Anchorage? Honolulu? Shanghai?) My card is now cancelled, a new card is on its way and I must let them know if it doesn't arrive within ten days. Lucky I have another credit card, what with Christmas coming up and everything.
Honestly, I'm grateful that they checked, rather than just paying out and not telling me my credit limit was up until I tried to check out the latest bit of black goods for the offspring's pressie. But what is the mentality of these institutions? They are forever asking us to be vigilant against fraud, yet they act as if they didn't know what it was like to be a customer. Imagine that you'd just paid for a meal in a restaurant where there happened to be a dodgy employee. I know I know, but it does happen. The employee has your name and credit card number, he has the telephone number from the booking; all he needs now are the answers to the security questions to be able to exhaust your unasked-for credit limit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
You are right - this has happened to me several times and I get quite indignant. They seem to think you have x-ray vision - how dare you suggest they might not be who they say they are!! I think we should all complain to our banks.
Kathleen
Same thing happened to my husband, though to be fair the bank quite understood why he wanted to call them back.
And they want to phase out cheques - as safe a method of payment as there is.
Thank you for the starlings.
The need for bidirectional authentication is very well known in the telecoms world, so it always amazes me that banks haven't worked out that it might be a good idea. You can, however, authenticate the bank weakly by giving the wrong answer to one of their questions. If they say "Er, that's not what it says here" then they probably have the right answer in front of them. If they don't challenge you, hang up immediately.
Post a Comment