Banks should really up their game in phone verification. Not to verify us, but to verify themselves! I received a call from a guy with a filipino accent and he said he is calling from HSBC and asked me to verify myself by wanting to ask me security questions. I asked him what the call was in relation to and he refused to tell me unless I verify myself.
This was how the conversation went…
Me: “No. You called me, so why would you want me to verify myself to you? You should verify that you are calling from HSBC! How would I know if you are from HSBC? You should answer my questions to so I can verify you.”
Him: “I understand. What questions do you want me to answer?”
Me: “Tell me what is my credit card number and my credit limit.”
Him: “I can’t tell you this information until I go through the verification process.”
Me: “NO! I am not going to verify myself until you verify yourself as you called me. I did not call you. You called me. Don’t call me and then ask me to verify myself. How would I know you are from HSBC anyway?”
Him: “If you don’t want to verify, I can send you a letter or you can contact our customer service..”
Me: “What?! You called me and you want me to call your customer service? If I want to speak with HSBC, I will call. I don’t need you to call me to tell me to call you guys just because you can’t verify yourselves!”
Him: “Since you don’t want to verify yourself, I can send you a letter.”
Me: “Don’t send me a letter. Email me, now, so I will be able to get it straightaway.”
Him: “Okay.”
Me: “So what email are you going to be sending to?”
Him: “I can’t say due to security reasons unless you go through the verification process.
Me: “Fine. Send me the email to whatever email then. Thanks.”
(I hang up.)
I am sure this is a common thing for all banks. How could their call centre people call and not provide anything to make us know they are legit? They think they can just say the bank’s name and they magically gain credit? Pppffft.
