Do they need to ask security questions when calling customers?

[AhhBisto]

So bit of a boring one.

Just had a guy call from a finance company regarding a payment for my partners account. I have legal responsibility for her finances due to her condition. I'm well aware of the company and how much the payment is for and also am verified on their system to deal with it. I also arrange the call back last week.

However when they called the guy said he was calling for my partner and I said she can't talk, he asked if I was AhhBisto and I said yes. He carried on the conversation didn't ask me to verify who I was which I was a bit weirded out by as no one ever does that. He spewed out the financial information on file and asked how I would like to pay, I asked him shouldn't he verify who I am first.

His reply was "I called you so it's not needed".

So I arranged a call back on Friday as I need to verify this, I do know the number and I even recognise the person. But how he could possibly know for a fact it was me anyone could pick up my phone?

I do record all my calls as I am responsible for someone else's finances.

 

[AhhBisto]

Quite the revese, actually. It is you who should be asking them to verify who they are. After all, they could be any random person.

I always do in my calls, he told me far more then i needed to know.

Just for the sake of it I called them, just said I was AhhBisto calling on behalf of my partner. Different person this time and well...they didn't ask anything even shared transaction numbers and payments I've made lol.

 

[AhhBisto]

Makes no sense, what if someone else answered your phone? I'd still expect them to verify themselves first and then take me through security.

That's what I was expecting, I know they are not a massive company. But they literally asked for nothing they even told me who they thought I was.

 

[AhhBisto]

I've worked in call centers for over 20 years, believe me, making sure agents do DP checks at the appropriate times is still one of the core things the QA teams will be listening for and it's really not rare to find people not following process.

So probably worth providing this information to their offices?

 

[AhhBisto]

They don't need to ask you to prove who you are but it's wise for you to make sure they are who they say they are.

Usually when they do ask you to confirm details, namely debt collectors and people you owe money too, it's to make sure they know where you are for possible further action. All under the disguise of data protection.

Some thief who has stole your phone and pretending to be you isn't going to pay your bills are they now!

Never know nice thieves here and there I guess.

The problem isn't with people paying bills, it's the fact they then have further access to financial information and car finance details/insurance they normally wouldn't.

Seriously though, I was able to call up with just the account number afterwords and get access. If a letter got accessed by someone of a criminal mind, I'm sure it wouldn't have taken them long to get all the information if they need.

 

[AhhBisto]

Well this is not how I expected this post to go. Feel like a bit of anarchist now perhaps I should avoid general discussion