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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why should I supply my personal details over the phone when a bank or customer service department calls me?

34 replies

heheheheheheh · 04/11/2015 18:08

Call on my mobile: this is John Lewis customer services, please can you confirm your name and address?

Er, no: you rang me - you should be confirming my name and address to prove to me you are who you claim to be.

Call from my bank wanting my name and date of birth before they'd tell me why they wanted to talk to me.

Again: I'm not giving personal info out in response to an unsolicited call

In both cases (this week) I told the caller that unfortunately I couldn't take the call as I wasn't willing to give my personal details out without proof of who I was talking to. The chap from John Lewis seemed to think this was preposterous, yet he told me he couldn't tell me what he was calling about until he confirmed my identity!

AIBU here or is it flipping cheeky for companies to expect people to divulge details on the phone when cold called?

OP posts:
honeysucklejasmine · 04/11/2015 18:09

I find this very annoying too. I usually tell them no, then ring the company myself later.

listsandbudgets · 04/11/2015 18:10

Sounds like a scam of some sort. You were right not to provide details. Call John Lewis and ask them if they phoned you and if so why

ChippyMinton · 04/11/2015 18:12

I agree, and recently made a complaint to my bank about this, and making automated calls as well.

ENtertainmentAppreciated · 04/11/2015 18:13

I agree. I usually say please email me at my registered email address, or give me a reference number and I will call back.

To be fair, up to now it hasn't been a problem as the calls I've had have been bone fide.

munkisocks · 04/11/2015 18:17

I never really get these now but I have before and find them hilarious. I understand why but there must be a better way of doing it.

"How about you tell me YOUR date of birth before I tell you MINE"

Redglitter · 04/11/2015 18:18

I'd be surprised if it's a scam. Theyll tell you they need to be sure it's the account holder they're speaking to. I agree it's ridiculous though. I've stopped dealing with most of these calls too. Except for EE and my bank as I recognise their numbers. When so many of these calls are with held numbers they can't honestly be surprised people say no

RooftopCat · 04/11/2015 18:18

I normally phone these companies back.
When the gas provider calls to make an appointment for the annual service I always say I'll arrange it on-line. I'm fairly sure it's them calling but don't like to give out too much detail over the phone.

Narp · 04/11/2015 18:20

I have had this, and I ask them to give me a number and reference so I can call them (if you do this, always leave it for a few minutes, and call from a different phone).

The lovely people at First Direct are completely understanding about it

magoria · 04/11/2015 18:20

I don't give out details either.

It's amazing how many of them get pissy that you won't just hand over your security data!

RickRoll · 04/11/2015 18:21

happens all the time, I usually get pissy, but it depends if it's going to cause me more trouble to call them back than vice versa.

FeliciaJollygoodfellow · 04/11/2015 18:23

They have to.

Otherwise what if I picked up your phone?
'Hello is that hehehehehe? This is your bank calling. So you know it's us your DOB is 010186 and your sort code is 202020'

'Oh good thanks' - thinks fraudster, I've got enough info to trawl the Internet to find this person and commit major fraud.

They have to ask something but are normally good about confirming something to you (like part of your postcode or sort code). But yes they are totally used to people being cautious which I agree is a good thing which is why if you say you're not really happy to give out details they will normally give you a number to call them back.

troubleatmillcock · 04/11/2015 18:42

YANBU.

They call you, they should know your details.

DPotter · 04/11/2015 18:53

I refuse to pass on information as well. It does seem so contradictory of them - they tell tell not give out personal information and then on a cold calling basis, they're are asking for that very same information.

It can't be beyond the wit of humankind to devise a system, where an organisation calling a customer, can check they are talking to the right person. Banks etc could provide a reference number to be quoted by them when they call so the person being called 'knows' (as far as is possible) that its a bone fide call and therefore the call can continue.

Like pp I refuse to give information and will call them. What's annoying isn't that they ask for the information, it's the huff-y-ness that your'e refusing to give it to them.

mommy2ash · 04/11/2015 18:57

I work I'm customer service and have to make these types of calls on a regular basis. You have to ensure it's the account holder you are talking to. If someone isn't comfortable with that I give our telephone number and a reference number to call back. I understand why someone wouldn't want to give personal info on the phone equally the person calling is unable to proceed without it

looksamess · 04/11/2015 18:59

completely agree, it happens all the time, but mainly when you are a public place, for the whole world to learn your most private details!

MrsJen3 · 04/11/2015 19:02

I'm a Rent Officer and often have to make such calls and ask people to confirm their details for Data Protection purposes.
Most people are fine with this because if I didn't bother to do it I could potentially be disclosing information about court proceedings or an eviction to anyone who happened to answer their phone....not usually the sort of info people like to share with just anybody.
If a tenant is unhappy to disclose such info to me I'm quite happy for them to phone back on the main number and be transferred but it's very rare people bother to do this.

ToadsforJustice · 04/11/2015 19:09

I have a solution to this. If someone rings me and asks for my DOB or postcode, I tell them a fictitious one. If they are a scammer, they will accept it and you will then know that the call isn't genuine. If the caller doesn't accept it, you know they are genuine, you can call them back on their general phone number.

LunchpackOfNotreDame · 04/11/2015 19:13

Because they need to confirm you are who you say you are (can't exactly ask for photographic id over the phone!) and you've not changed your number and it's now been allocated to someone else

Also it's to do a cursory records check

If they didn't do it and your money went awol I'm sure you'd be the first to kick off

StrictlyMumDancing · 04/11/2015 19:13

I get why the genuine banks/etc need to confirm this before giving your details, but I always refuse to just in case.

I've had a great run in with someone calling from Santander when I refused to answer, explained politely why and asked for a reference number. They got very shirty and at one point asked where on earth I'd gotten the advice not to divulge that information when called. I said 'your website' Grin. Though oddly I did call Santander on the off chance and it was a genuine call, but I'd rather waste my time and money making that call myself.

LunchpackOfNotreDame · 04/11/2015 19:18

Saying all that though I'm always astounded by what people tell you on the phone!

KenDoddsDadsDog · 04/11/2015 19:20

It's not a scam , they need to validate who you are before discussing personal details or on occasion someone buying something on your behalf .

CFSsucks · 04/11/2015 19:23

YANBU. I refuse to confirm details as well. My catalogue did it once. She got very pissy when I told her I wouldn't as she had phoned me. She kept saying "but I am from X and I won't be able to discuss this with you" (never an actual issue on my catalogue anyway so I didn't care) so I just said ok then and she hung up in a huff.

I am forever getting emails from my bank etc telling me not to give out personal details to someone who phones so why companies think you are happy to do this I don't know. I only do it if I'm expecting them to call.

CrohnicallyAspie · 04/11/2015 19:32

Yes, it's a pain, but I'd rather they confirmed details than didn't.

I once accidentally got details of a medical nature after a doctor phoned a house where I was babysitting and assumed I was the patient's mum! He apologised profusely when he realised his mistake but he didn't ask for details of my identity, he asked for X and I said 'sorry, she's not available, can I take a message?' and so he gave me a message to give to X. Luckily no harm was done as it wasn't anything I didn't already know!

I think the best system would be if there was some sort of password or check on both sides. As PPs have said, you could get a reference or name then ring the company up yourself. Or for something like online banking, could there be a unique number generator linked to the phone call like you sometimes need to do to log in?

Holstein · 04/11/2015 19:34

RedGlitter- are EE in Newcastle? I had one from them earlier, and refused to give information.

Want2bSupermum · 04/11/2015 19:42

When I worked at a call center of a bank/ discount brokerage house, I would sometimes enter in the wrong account number when speaking to a customer and bring up an account where I could see an error. I always copied the account number to an excel spreadsheet I had open and after dealing with customer I had on the phone would go back to the account I had looked up and call the customer.

I had numerous people be really rude to me accusing me of scamming them even though my call would start with 'I'm want, I work in the customer service call center and was processing some accounts and your account came up. Would you like you verify your identification with me so we can discuss the issue I found or would you like to call back?' so it wasn't sounding weird and stalkerish. I would always notate their account with what the issue was so when they called it could be dealt with by the person who picked up their call.

Don't give your details out but do call them back at a number you found yourself online. Let the customer rep guide you to the right number to use BUT never just call back the number they give you.