To be sick of companies asking me to confirm my identity when they are the one who have phoned me out of the blue?

[MuddlingMackem]

Just had the phone company ring me, saying they have some discounts I may be entitled to but can I just confirm my identity for data protection purposes.

I'm getting really sick of this and now point out that they should be confirming the info with me so that I can be sure they are who they're saying they are. The caller replied that anyone could have picked up the phone, they need to make sure they're speaking to the right person. They phoned my landline! I pointed out that I need to be sure that the person I'm speaking to is from the company he claims to be, I'm not the one who should be confirming my identity.

I suggested that maybe the way around this is for two part passwords on file, so the company says one part to confirm their identity and the customer says the other so both parties can be assured that they're speaking to who they think they are.

I know I'm being arsey, but in this day of so many telephone scams, AIBU to think that this is something thing which businesses should be taking into account?

My response, if a company I do have an account with has purportedly phoned me, is to tell them that I will call them back on the number on their website. If they bluster about it, I know they're a scammer.

I got one supposedly from Talk Talk the other day. He knew my address and account number. Thing is, I knew Talk Talk got hacked a year or so back and all their customer details are floating around the web. When I said I'd phone back (he was feeding me some crock of shit about my internet connection) he went all aggressive. I told him he was a fraudster and hung up. (Then I phoned Talk Talk - guess what, my internet was fine... no surprise there then).

No but then surely it's obvious they are scams?

I'm only referring to companies that you deal with and have a reason to call you (recent transaction or you contacting them).

I apologise if my previous post sounded harsh, it doesn't affect me if people don't want to speak to me, I just send them a letter, but it delays things for them, so it can be frustrating especially for something simple.

There is nothing whatsoever in the Data Protection Act that says any company can phone you and ask for your personal details without offering any evidence that they are entitled to them. And if all they want to do is sell you something, they aren't entitled to them

There is massive misunderstanding of the DPA out there. I recently phoned our mortgage company with a general query which had nothing whatsoever to do with our account, but they insisted on having my name, address and account number before they would deal with it. I was in a hurry so I left it and emailed the query later, whereupon they were suddenly able to answer it without any of that desperately important information.

Well, not necessarily obvious - because Talk Talk do call their customers out of the blue about deals and offers (i.e. trying to tie you into a longer contract). And I have had trouble with my internet in the past (which they've fixed). So it wasn't beyond the bounds of possibility that the call might be genuine. Until, that is, I said that for my security I was going to phone their freephone number - at which point he got all blustering and aggressive. I could imagine someone who wasn't as much of a suspicious bastard as me being scammed by it.

So - rule of thumb - if they're asking for your bank account details, payment details, access to your internet or computer - tell them you'll phone them back.

There is massive misunderstanding of the DPA out there.

Amongst those people that have heard of it - many haven't .Or claim they haven't when challenged, which actually makes things worse ...

The "phone company " ones are particularly dodgy. It is usually a separate company that sells phone contracts and not your provider itself. Again: trust no one who wants any of your personal details.

For those saying 'you called my landline...' I once picked up the phone at my inlaw's house. It was a doctor phoning to arrange some urgent medical tests. I agreed to pass the message on- at which point the doctor realised I wasn't MIL as he had assumed, and he had just divulged medical information.

On a slightly different note, I had an answerphone message from X credit card company regarding fraud, and could we phone back on . I phoned the credit card company on the telephone number on my card. They refused to speak to me as the account is in DH's name. I asked if the call could be genuine, they wouldn't answer 'because data protection'. I asked if I gave the telephone number on the message, could they confirm that was genuine. They wouldn't answer. When DH got home and phoned the company himself, they asked for the latest transactions on my card! At which point he handed the phone to me...

So yeah, there's a fine line to be drawn between talking to an unknown, and not talking to someone relevant. My online bank displays a personalised message when I enter my user name- perhaps this could be done over the phone too? 'Good morning Mrs Smith, it's X bank here, the eagles fly at midnight'

What really annoys me is when you start to say your not interested they hang up. It's so rude! I have had countless sales calls where they do this

My online bank displays a personalised message when I enter my user name- perhaps this could be done over the phone too?

Of course. We put a man on the moon 47 years ago fgs !

Whether the bank wants to, is another matter

One nice thing about getting older (there has to be something) is a much lower tolerance for bullshit - certainly in my case. One of the side-effects is a much more critical view of the word "can't" ...

"It can't be done" - oh yes it can. What you really meant to say is
we won't do it. Which is a completely different kettle of fish.

What really annoys me is when you start to say your not interested they hang up. It's so rude! I have had countless sales calls where they do this

If you knew how competitive the world of cold sales is . Every second counts. . Operators will have targets (so many calls/hour, so many leads/hour etc).

Probably the worst thing you could do with a cold sales call is to keep them on the hook for as long as possible, before revealing you aren't buying. And just for the record it's not something I would ever do, although I loath cold callers.

Now scammers on the other hand .... the longer you can keep them on the phone the less chance they are scamming someone more vulnerable. When we had a landline I'd try and beat each previous record ... I think I hit over 30 minutes once before they twigged.

abigwideworld Thu 15-Sep-16 12:25:32

YABU. It's the law, they don't have a choice

Then when they realise it's not free (local rate, hardly a huge cost! Certainly cheaper than being a victim of fraud!)

It depends how long you end up in a queue for! I don't get allowances with my landline so I won't ring 084 numbers (and definitely not on a mobile) - if a company wants to speak to me they can give me a geographical or 0800 number. I thought companies weren't supposed to use them now anyway.

A few years back, i had an argument with NEXT over this. They wouldn't send my my order [It was 'labelled' jeans] unless i had confirmed who i was. I refused and told them basically to stuff it.

I've worked for a phone company selling upgrades. It was an outsourced company, and although the upgrades were legitimate, the company itself was not. I had a list of numbers to call, but no names etc attached. We got that info my asking the person on the other end to confirm their identity to "match our data".

I would never give my info out over the phone. I just would never trust the person is who they say they are.

I deal with this area of law every day. They have a choice.

I would never give my details to anyone who phoned me claiming to be from a company I use.
I have however developed a method for the 'accident' calls I've suddenly started receiving (don't want to offend anyone because I don't think RTAs are funny but they are fucking relentless) - i tell them my injuries were fatal and I'd like to proceed with a claim. Normally the thick pestering twats put me through to a supervisor before they click I'm taking the piss. The calls have dwindled in numbers now so I'm probably on their call lists as a dick head

Probably the worst thing you could do with a cold sales call is to keep them on the hook for as long as possible, before revealing you aren't buying. And just for the record it's not something I would ever do, although I loath cold callers.

I did this once with a debt resolution agency. I had no debts at the time and I knew a lot of what he was telling me was factually wrong so I strung him along trying to get the company name to report the lying git. I was on the phone for 20 minutes before I got bored and told him I didn't have any debts.

I think I might do it next time Safestyle phone me. I'm usually rude to them but I think I might string them along next time. OK maybe I'm wasting their time but if they stopped hassling me they could be lying speaking to someone who might be interested.

carphone warehouse once called my mboile about extending my contract, and my then bf answered the phone- they let him renew the contract! i knew nothing about it until I phoned up to cancel and found I couldn't

I get the entire DP thing as it used to be a major component of my job, but its the way these callers handle it that is the issue.

When someone calls you unsolicited, especially when its not about an account issue but just an offer, they should acknowledge the person they've called may a) wish to not give their data over to someone who called them and b) may not want to do so just to listen to some offers.

To be fair, I find most account issue call handlers tend to be understanding if you say something like 'I'm very sorry but I don't confirm my details when someone phones me but I am more than happy to call back on a known number'. More issues tend to come out of the sales call handlers, probably because they don't want anyone getting their commission.

Having said this my worst case was a call from some very very arsey person claiming to call from my bank. I politely explained I don't give out my info and would call them back. After refusing to get off my phone line for a while and ultimately resort to snarling 'who on earth told you not to give information out when called' I responded 'your own website' and put the phone down. Called my bank from my mobile. Turns out the caller was actually from my bank. I made a massive complaint

I tend to enjoy cold callers.
They have to get my name right...calling me Mrs P is incorrect so I have to say no I am not her.
If I get asked my marital status as part of the survey I ask them theirs in return.
The microsoft callers are great to tie in knots...they ask me to switch my computer on...I ask which one...or say my PC is in the loft - still boxed so how could it possibly be sending them error messages?!
The last calls I have received I have requested my details be removed from their database and from the server. Fed up with third party calls when I have been assured I will not receive them.
Being firm and not allowing them to interrupt often works - I'm still speaking!! can be used to great effect.
I understand they are often just doing their job but sometimes it gets too much 😀

I always give them a load of bogus information. Makes me smile and them happy.

Re the special word thing on online banking ...

DH chose a very rude word for his. Makes him chuckle every time he logs on. I would LOVE the bank to have to say it if they ring us.

I tell the accident compensation cold callers that my accident caused rigor mortis.

I recently received a letter through the post from a debt collection company, claiming to be acting on behalf of a phone company with which I am, currently, having a dispute over charges and have now left. This dispute is with the Communications Ombudsman at the moment and so I replied to the email address contained in the letter to that effect and to give them the claim number issued by the Ombudsman. The company rang me back to tell me that this email address wasn't linked to the account which they had been detailed to recover and that I would have to supply them with further information. I replied that if the demand was from my phone account then this email must be linked to it as it is the only private email address I have ever had! Therefore I had to assume that it was a case of mistaken identity and I certainly wasn't giving them any further personal information unless they could provide some alternate proof that the debt was actually mine. I haven't heard back from them yet!

We always refuse to give out details over the phone - it's nearly always a cold call anyway, but if it is important we will call back on a number we have looked up.
I understand they probably do have to do it for data protection, but you can never be too careful.

We did have a good argument recently with a particular company who kept calling. We had two people with the same first name living with us, but "due to data protection" they could not say which one as the couldn't give out the surname or confirm any other details to us. However they also couldn't speak to anyone other than the account holder, so.....
I think they gave up in the end.
Tbf we were 99% sure it was a sales call otherwise we could have been a little more accommodating.