I initiated a wire transfer today from an out-of-state credit union to my home credit union. Because the amount of money was fairly significant, they called me up to verify a few things before they did the transfer.
After the woman gave her name and who she worked for, she asked for the passcode to my account to continue the transaction.
I almost told her, but stopped. Since she called me, I asked, “Uhhh, can I call you back please? I want to verify who I'm speaking with.” She agreed without any problem, and gave me her name again, her phone number, and her extension. I hung up, looked up the number on the credit union's website, saw that it matched what she gave me, called her back, and finished the transaction.
Initially it surprised me that the credit union could conduct business over the phone in a way that wouldn't even be remotely acceptable through e-mail. (If you know when they can do this, let me know!) She started off by talking about my wire transfer, but aside from knowing her personally — I didn't — how was I to know otherwise that she worked for who she said she worked for? People who can spot a phishing e-mail a mile away might get taken in by a plausible-sounding phone call.
Here are a few steps to take if this kind of thing should happen to you:
- Don't give your account information over the phone if you didn't place the call. Again, you can't verify the identity of someone who calls you the same way that they can verify who you are.
- Ask to call them back. They shouldn't argue with you. If they do, that's a red flag.
- Ask to get some of their information. Like phone number, extension, name, etc. They should understand. If they don't, that may be a red flag.
- Verify the information they give you. Don't just call back the number they give you. A scammer will just have you call him/her back. If it's a place you normally do business with, they should have a website with their phone number on it.
- When you call back, make sure everything matches up. For example, I got the direct extension from the person who called me, and it was indeed correct. It should be.
Forewarned is forearmed! Banks and credit unions verify their customers thoroughly before conducting business. Don't be shy about verifying them.
I had a horrible experience with the banks calling me. I called them to correct a few things on my account and once I had my issues taken care of I thought that would be it. 2 weeks later, I getting calls from a different department from the bank that was soliciting services to me like they were a telemarketer! I try to handle all of my banking now in person and avoid the middle man.
I work for a bank and place roughly 10-20 calls to customers every day for various reasons. NO ONE has asked if they could call me back. Typically, I’m not asking them for account information, but I would NOT be offended if they asked to call me back for security reasons. I completely understand. I think this is a great suggestion!
I had a client the other day who received a call from our fraud services (they left a message) and was asked to call them back by 4pm so they could approve a transaction. The client was skeptical and came into the bank. I looked at her account, looked at the history of which bank employees had been in her account recently and found the one who called her, so I called the phone number listed for that employee and I talked to her directly. She was worried it was fake, but after I found the person who called her and we verified the transaction, the client left happy. 🙂
Great advice. Identity theft is rampant and we need to be very aware of who we speak with and how we handle certain situations. Not only as consumers, but employees too! We don’t want personal information getting into the wrong hands!