Account Security

In this day and age of identity theft, I’ve often joked that anyone who steals mine was going to a lot of trouble to get their credit rating downgraded.
But when I recieved a call last month from someone purporting to be from my bank, I refused to volunteer the information they requested to “confirm” my identity. I asked they call my local manager and she could discuss any alleged problem with me. The first caller said they would do just that – and I didn’t hear anything more. When I was in the bank later that day, I mentioned the incident. The employees were concerned.
Two days later, it happened again. This time I was ready for them.

“Hello, is this Catherine McMillan? This is *The Bank. We have a problem with one of your accounts.”
“Really?”
“But first I need to verify your identity. What is your date of birth and phone number?”

(You mean the number of the phone I just answered?)

“Don’t you have that already?”
“Yes, I’m looking right at it. I need to make sure I’m talking to the right person.”
“Sorry, I don’t give out personal information on the phone. I have no way to tell if you are who you say you are. So, why don’t you call Betty, my manager? The Bank is about 50 yards from here – I can just go talk to her.”
Click*

Thought so. Screw you, scam artist. You’re going to have to get up earlier than that to fool me.
Yesterday, I got a terse letter from the The Bank. There was a problem with one of my accounts. Their attempts to contact me by phone had been “unsuccessful”. Persistant bastards, I thought … it was a cheap photocopy, with the logo fading off at the top. But the information looked legit, they had the account number right. And I figured, it’s not like there’s any real money in it. I called and sure enough, was asked for the same information to verify my identity. And it was legit. The problem proved to be minor.
Wow. Small wonder so many people fall victim to scams.
* Bank identity deleted to protect the innocent and what little money I do have.