Not to confirm my identity on the telephone until the caller has confirmed theirs?

[Dolcelatte]

I had a call today from an individual who must have asked at least six times whether or not I were Dolcelatte. I kept saying who are you - I won't speak to you unless you identify which organisation you are calling from, as I don't speak to strangers. This conversation went on for several minutes, going round and round in circles, until I said if you don't identify your organisation (ie not asking for personal information), I will hang up, as you are wasting my time.

The caller said they were from a Bank and I said which Bank, as I have a number of accounts. After I hung up, I called back the number (which was not withheld), and it does appear to have been a genuine call from one of my banks.

I understand the need to be confidential and I am assuming that the caller was instructed that they must not say anything until they had confirmed that the person who answered had confirmed that they were the account holder. On the other hand, why should I confirm my identity to a stranger who won't even say which organisation they represent? I am ex-directory, but I still receive cold calls from unknown organisations who want to sell me something and they always start by saying 'Are you Dolcelatte?'......

Rant over, but interested to know if you think AIBU.

*blame my poorly written post on baby brain

Caller "Hello there, I am calling from xxx. Can I speak to Taxi please"

Me "Speaking"

Caller "Lovely, now I have some security questions I need to ask, so I can confirm who you are. Could you give me your telephone number and the first line of your address and the postcode please"

Me "What are you calling me for?"

Caller "I can't divulge that information until I've confirmed your security details"

Me "Er... you called me, so you already know who I am"

Caller "Yes, but I need to ask...."

Me (Interrupting) "I'm sorry but I can't divulge confidential information over the phone, and I don't know who you are. Byeee!"

My GP's office destroyed some samples I had to provide from my baby because they weren't sure what they were (requested by the hospital) and the two occasions they phoned me to check (from a withheld number) I missed the calls and they didn't leave a message. I was absolutely furious.

All they had to do was leave a message asking me to call the surgery.

A business caller should always identify herself when calling. It's general American practice, and very wise in the long run.

I hate this too!! My grandparents gave their card details to someone who was not from the bank but told them it was. I refuse to give any details as it really could be anyone!!

I ran I to trouble by ringing my bank (HSBC) back - they'd rung me at work and it wasn't convienent (rather than checking id, but the same idea). When I rang back they had no record, but said likely marketing. But it was actually the fraud section trying to confirm something or other. Because they couldn't get hold of me they froze my accounts, machine swallowed my cards etc. Was a total ball ache to get sorted. Apparently for "security" the main call centre doesn't have fraud info

Not really sure what the message is here.... Banks are twats?

Pet hate of mine too. Best one I had was child benefit, but the guy was great about it - ended up playing info ping pong but we got there......and he admitted people were usually lax about checkung his side of things ID.

Infinity8 Wed 06-Aug-14 10:06:40
A lot of banks employ a company to check on the service you received when you visited a branch of your bank. So when you go to the branch it triggers a call from this company, who are basically being used to spy on the staff.

Have you given your explicit permission for them to use a third party to do this? DH had Lloyds do this to him. He went mental at them as they were in breach of Data Protection and are not compliant with current law. He was completely unwilling to give any data over the phone, because of security issues. He has worked in the field for a while so is very aware of what you can and can't do as he has to comply with it himself.

So if you get a call like this, just be aware of whether you have agreed to it, and whether they are part of your bank or a third party (they didn't help themselves when they initially lied and said they were part of Lloyds then admitted that they weren't).

For the record, in law, if they are passing your details on to a third party they have to tell you exactly for what purposes. It has to be explicit (therefore not hidden away in your terms and conditions) and it can not be back dated.

He got a full grovelling letter of apology from Lloyds a few days later who admitted yes, they were in the wrong....

It sounds very much like this was actually an illegal call that you got infinity.

"They never have anything important to tell you though. They are just trying to sell something."

Actually that is not true. Our bank kept trying to ring us one new year's day. I thought it was a scam, but after the third attempt. I dialled 1471 and got the number only to discover it was the fraud department of our bank. Someone had cloned OH's debit card and creamed £2000 out of our bank account and was attempting to get another £1000.

The bank were fantastic, paid the money back in almost straight away and got a new card out to OH within a few days. I was extremely impressed with their service.

Bunbaker thats the ONLY time they should call you. And then only to inform you, and get you to call them back for security reasons.

The irony of the call DH got from this third party, was it in follow up to a fraud on the account. So he was particularly aware of the fraud issue. It made a total mockery of the whole thing, as he had no idea who these people were, and why they were asking him about his bank including sensitive information.

I used to work in a bank where I had to call people a lot (debt collection) and we were instructed to ring, ask for the person and then ask them to confirm dob etc. for security.

I repeatedly raised the issue with the management, asking what we should do if the person we called asked me to prove that I really was calling from their bank. And all I ever got was , and 'they have no need to confirm who you are, it's us that needs to confirm who they are' etc and eventually told that I had a bad attitude and was trying to undermine management.

But of all the thousands of people I ever called, I only ever had one customer refuse to talk to me on the grounds that they had no idea if I was genuine. And I accepted his decision, although of course I got into trouble with my manager for 'allowing' him to end the phonecall. But what could I say? I had absolutely no way of proving I was genuine - we hadn't even issued any paperwork before ringing people, as the element of surprise was needed with the phonecall, so we couldn't even say ' just ring the numb3r on a recent letter'. It was madness, and it amazed me juwt how lax people are with their security.

The thing that I worry about (and I know it's remote) is someone rings & asks for letters 2 & 7. Then spouts some crap about credit cards or somesuch that you're going to refuse.

A couple of week later another call - letters 1 & 6 etc. etc.

It's not likely, but the other side is that depending on your word even a couple of letters can make it a lot easier to work out!!

That's why if someone calls & says "I'm from Barclays, tell me 25% of your password" I'm always a bit dubious & will either call or mail from the website.

That's why I think there should be a password that they have to tell you when they call.

"I'm from Barclays - ROSEBUD - we saw something strange on your account" would be a lot better & not hard to implement....

I had a call yesterday, asking for my husband. I knew it was a cold call without going further because my DH died 4 years ago.

I have sort of the opposite problem. I always answer the phone with my name - I don't even say hello I just go "Tatty Devine"...

Then without fail I always get someone saying "May I please speak to Mrs Tatty Devine".

Um YEAH!

I am not bothered who dials my number and hears my name. And I find at the point where they know its you (well, they think its you - I could be lying - this is where data protection act over the phone seems a joke sometimes) they say who they are THEN take you through security, which I am happy with as generally I know if I have an account with someone etc.

Back to the data protection act being a bit of a joke sometimes - I realise that its the process of taking you through security, not your name or your voice that truly identifies you - however, there is a credit card account we have where I know all the security details because I was the one who set up the online bit which has now superseded all security stuff, and my husband has not a clue. There was one time he was going through security and I was yelling the answers at him but they wouldn't accept them from me, he had to repeat them even though I was on speaker (!) (I know this is not their fault) and another time he was abroad and uncontactable so I just said I was Mr Devine and I could tell the person was thinking "feck he has a girly voice" but actually what the hell are they going to say, "dude, you sound like a GIRL" - no - and I passed security.

And no I don't give a shit that I was breaking the law, as I needed to sort the account out and it would have not been in the public interest to prosecute me for paying a bill. Plus my husband would have just said "yes it was me I had tonsillitis which made me talk like a girl and even more strangely, with an Australian accent"...

So its the security details that matter but the whole I must be talking to the right person because they have the right sounding voice is at best random (though in fairness probably pretty accurate)

I hate this! [only looked at op, sorry if you've moved on].
People phone me, on my number and ask me if I'm me.
Without telling me who they are.
It always leads to a row.
They should say "Hello, this is Fred from BankWest, I need to speak to Mrs PieMonster. It's confidential, so can you confirm that you are Mrs PM for me?"
That's all it takes.
fwits

It is annoying but I do confirm my details, after working in customer service and knowing that sometimes it has to be done.

One bad case of it backfiring was when an elderly gent had had his credit card hacked and was a victim of fraud. I called him several times to inform him and ask him to cancel the card and get help, but because I wasn't allowed to say where I was calling from, he kept putting the 'phone down on me. It was months before his son called me, furious about the calls, after finishing swearing he believed me and put his Father on to confirm his details, he was so upset about it all.

Cold callers usually aren't picky and don't ask for details in the same way an official caller would.Plus I always think anybody who knows my name could get the info on me by watching me walk down the street into my house. Once they call and explain why, THEN I can decide if I think It's dodgy or not and I will report if it is.

Tatty that is funny. My Mother answers the 'phone with her name, too and gets the same responses.

I had a foreign caller ones who asked was he speaking to my partner. I said no. He continued the call, ignoring my saying several times 'No, I am not MISTER Sunflower, and DP was sitting next to me laughing, I have a high pitched, 'girly' voice and he sounds like John Lee Hooker, which made it more amusing.

Once not ones.

I have worked for a few financial companies. Imagine a woman is experiencing domestic violence, she gets a wee bank account to squirrel money away. Her controlling partner answers her mobile to hear 'hi this is mike from x bank can I speak to 'victim''. Now abusive partner knows about y bank but not x so that poor woman (or possibly man) is endangered.

I also worked for student loans and under no circumstances could we give out company name as the account holder might not want parents/partner to know they had a loan. There are reasons sometimes.

The person doing it is just doing what they have been told to do.

So if you don't like it then complain to bank.

Hate when people talk to people like crap when they are just doing their job (not you necessarily OP but people do)

Occupational hazard of any job that involves making unsolicited phone calls I'm afraid!!

I'm always firm but polite, but can understand why people get pissed off with them....

I received an apology from my bank due to sales calls from them where they wanted my DOB and A/C No. I now have a note on my file stating no calls. Bliss!

You're not unreasonable, but you might end up shooting yourself in the foot if they really do have to tell you something!
It's more likely they are selling something. If it is anything important, they will contact you another way or have no difficulty in suggesting that you call the main number so you can verify their identity. (From another phone of course, as suggested by a PP). I had it recently when I locked myself out of my internet banking so the bank phoned to check if it was a hacking attempt. They positively encouraged me to phone them back when I questioned their identity.

I do think you're being a teeny bit precious.
It's not in the least bit precious! It's incredibly sensible to refuse.
There are numerous scams and cons where people phone to try and get your personal details from you. It would be foolish to hand over personal identifying password information to a complete stranger who has phoned out of the blue.

I do exactly what Taxi does.
There is no way I would hand over confidential information to a random caller, however my DH had his account frozen when the bank called with a marketing call and he refused to verify his identity (and got very cross with the caller for their insistence and evasion), so the bank decided that he must have been an imposter! We put a complaint into the bank and got a very unsatisfactory apology, but an assurance that we would not be contacted with any marketing calls again.