to think that when they cold-call, Virgin should be giving me a password not asking for one

[ontosecondary]

I just got a call from an 0845 number on my mobile. The caller explained that he was from Virgin mobile and asked if I had a minute to check if I was on the best account.

Then he asked for my password. I said "given that I can't see who you really are, shouldn't you be giving me a password?"

He said: "I see your point but there's nothing I can do about that".

I said: "ok, I see, well just send me an email."

He said: "well, I am from Virgin, we don't do emails, so what's the worst that could happen if you give me your password?"

I said: "well, I suppose if I was a baddie pretending to be from Virgin, I would ask for the password, then, when the recipient of the cold call couldn't remember it, I would ask for their mother's maiden name, other phone numbers, name, address and other personal data."

He said:"oh well, thanks for your time anyway" and ended the call.

I feel a letter to Richard Branson coming on, though it will never be as good as the one about the aeroplane meals from a few years back.

Would it not be reasonable for Virgin to - at the very least - arrange for their caller ID to show up on my virgin phone to talk about my virgin account?

I know this is common practice but AIBU to think it is a bit bonkers?

I refuse to give details to cold callers as how do you know who they are. Yanbu. They called you should be asking them questions...

YANBU
in correspondence with my bank they have asked me to provide a password of sorts in writing, then quoted it to me during telephones calls.
Makes total sense to me, why can't others use it?

I called my mobile provider and after taking my details etc asked for my account password. The woman on the end of the phone seemed utterly nonplussed when I refused.
I spoke to half a dozen other call handlers in the course of dealing with my issue and not one of them asked for it.
Very odd.

Barclays also got the knock with me when I'd been slightly strangely transferred to a different dept and refused to tell them my password.

I got a cold call from Someone from Sky who wanted to give me some kind if deal then asked for my password.
I told them I didn't want to as I didn't know if they were who they said they were. They then just hung up.

I agree . My usual response is 'hey , you rang me '. How am I able to tell who they are ? Particularly as there is a massive fraud at the moment where people pretend to be either a bank or a police officer , tell the caller their cards been fraudulently used , encourage them to ring the bank and tells them their card is going to be collected , but fail to put the phone down , so the victim thinks they're calling the bank when really they're handing over their security details and PIN numbers to the suspect . Who then gets a taxi to come round , pick up the card and deliver it to an address whereby suspect gets it and empties their bank account . So I don't hand over any details ever to a cold caller . They can write .

I don't have a contract phone, but every so often we get calls for DH who works from home. The callers claim to be from Talk Talk/BT but as they can never prove this, nor can they offer a better deal than he has already, they get short shrift from both of us.

YANBU
I've had this from banks, insurance etc. even when the bank rings from the fraud dept to check transactions they ask for is from me and not vice versa

I once had a hostel phone me to cancel my room booking and wanted my bank details to reimburse me. I said that they must have my details from when I paid but they said they weren't allowed to keep the details once the transaction had gone through. I very politely said that they could be anyone and that I'd phone their head office for a reimbursement instead.

They were genuine but you can't be too careful.

Sky do the same things. It's just bizarre isn't it!

YANBU, it's idiotic. I always ask them how am I supposed to know they are genuine, and never volunteer details. If we all do this, they will stop.

The best advice I have heard is if you are cold called and it's important, then you call them back using a different phone so they can't do the fake dial tone thing and look the number up yourself so not a number they give you. That way you can be sure you are speaking to who they say they are.

Meant to add, I had a call from barclaycard who left a message for DH and a number to call regarding possible fraud. I phoned the number on my card, but they said they needed to speak to DH and couldn't confirm if it was them calling or not 'for data protection reasons'. He wouldn't even tell me if the number was genuine or not.

A quick google and I found that barclaycard website has a number checker, you put in the number that called you and it says if it was them or not. Why couldn't the phone guy tell me that??

I would be suspicious of a cold caller who asked for a password. In genuine cases where you call a bank, phone provider etc they don't ask for your password - they ask you to give 2 characters , for example the 2nd and 5th. You are never asked for the full password.

in correspondence with my bank they have asked me to provide a password of sorts in writing, then quoted it to me during telephones calls

That is such a humungous breach of DPA I struggle to believe it sorry...I've never heared of a bank doing this, unless maybe in a very specific situation when you already have a relationship with one person...which most customers don't.

There's a fine line to tread between customer service and ensuring security. Refusing to speak to someone calling you and saying 'write to me' is silly...there are many genuine reasons why for instance, your bank, may need to speak to you. You may be about to have a cheque you've written returned, or all your cards cancelled, or your whole account blocked because they have a concern over some recent payments. It does happen, quite regularly.

It's much better to ask them for a reference then call them back on a number you know (or from yell.com etc) and find out what the calls about.

I do the same - you call me up to sell me something and then I have you give you my security details?! Fuck off.

Yes its annoying and there needs to be s better way, but its for dpa. It's not just people trying to sell you things, if you're in arrears with virgin, sky your bank etc then they'll ring you to try to sort it out. They have to do this, if you dont go through the security questions then they can't go further so can't even tell you why they were calling.
You'll get a letter but in the mean time what you owe will just be going up, or your tv goes off or your card stops working.

"That is such a humungous breach of DPA I struggle to believe it sorry...I've never heared of a bank doing this, unless maybe in a very specific situation when you already have a relationship with one person...which most customers don't."

Why?
Is the Data Protection Act our most abused and misunderstood piece of legislation ever?

If the customer is so "silly" why don't genuine callers suggest a means of calling back to help us silly silly folk who fail to give out all our data even when the nice man says "I really am from Virgin"?

Kali, there is a big difference between the individual cold caller not having authority to continue a call and thete being a sound basis to the bank's policy.

I had similar with my mobile phone provider, I didn't believe a word they said and hung up then called the actual number. It wasn't them, they have no idea who it was but think that since second stage is to get DOB and address, that it was an id theft scammer.

If a customer won't go through any dpa with someone calling from the bank then they can't continue the call either. They would break dpa.
I do agree that something needs to be done, but people have been saying the same thing for years and nothings changed.

You really think that a bank that calls a customer and gives out the customers password to whoever answers the phone...then proceeds to discuss their account without asking any identifying question to ensure that the bank are comfortable they are speaking to the account holder...is not breaching DPA?

If my bank called me, my sister answered my phone, and the bank not only gave her my password but continued to discuss my account with her I would be livid. As would most people.

They can't really win. But the fact is that if you want the bank (for instance) to be able to discuss the reason for their call then you will either have to answer their questions or call them back.

If you decide to get in a huff about it and refuse to answer or call back, fine...just don't go nuclear when you realise that all your cards have been stopped, for instance. There's only so much they can do.

Debt collection companies do his all the time, ring up and ask for all manner of personal info. My biggest bugbear is "can you confirm your date of birth" . So I wait for them to say it, so I can confirm it... that's not what they mean though. I have pointed out that I would have to be some kind of nut to give personal details to some random who rings me. Then they say it's for "security purposes". Whose security? Not mine, clearly.
Yorkshire Water always ask for my d.of. b when I call about my bill " for securitypurposes". Yeah, like someone else is going to be trying to pay my bill. And what if they did!? Is that illegal ?
YANBU, and I despair of modern life.

Kali, there is a big difference between the individual cold caller not having authority to continue a call and thete being a sound basis to the bank's policy

There IS a sound basis to the policy - 'If we don't know it's you, we're not discussing the account with you'.

Would you rather they just launched into your bank details with whoever answered? What if you'd sold the phone without telling them, or it had been lost/stolen?

Terracotta

Both parties need to identify themselves. Not just one.