Just a thought…I had to log in to several of my credit card accounts today. I go through once a month just to make sure nothing is owed. And of course this requires them to send me codes.
“Send me codes” involves text messages from seemingly-random numbers, and emails from domains that have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the company I’m dealing with.
And occasionally I’ll get legitimate account update stuff from a third-party provider. Doesn’t this condition people to not be as vigilant, because there’s literally no reasonable way (without spending half an hour on the phone) to verify what’s going on?
I agree, it’s a significant problem. A couple of times (more than 5 years ago now) I had fraud on my cards and the card companies would phone me to verify if I had made the purchases…
But of course, before they could speak to me, they’d need to go through security to confirm who I am, but they’ve just called me. The first time, when I refused to go through security after some rando phoned me, they were VERY put out, and there was no number on their website for the fraud department (so I could verify the number was legit)
I find that banks can be the worst on this because they perceive themselves to be in a superior position.
Have you checked to see if your bank or credit card companies offer notifications of purchases made, payments received, etc. or other services that might make things easier to track?
Some time ago I noticed the 2FA SMS and the “you just made a purchase” SMS notifications from my bank use the same identification number. So I added this number to its contact card to so their text messages will show the banks name. And I turned on optional notifications offered by my bank so I don’t have to check balances, etc.
Now I get an SMS “receipt” within minutes of making a bank credit card purchase. And messages when other credits and debits occur. My non-bank credit card sends me a weekly email of my purchases and balance and a separate email when they receive a payment.
I normally handle my finances using apps on my iPad which I feel should be more secure than using a browser on my Mac. And getting information sent to me reduces the number of times I need to do that.
This is one of the things I really like about the Apple Card and it is now my main credit card. I get a notification every time I make a purchase. I also have an AMEX card and I turned on this feature in the AMEX app as well. Now I would never use a bank card that didn’t have this feature. I’m instantly notified of every purchase.
All the calls of that nature I receive are from scammers. These people do not identify themselves neither do they identify the account or even the name of the account holder. All because Ofcom is too lazy to impose blocks on phone number jacking.
I got a call from AMEX a few years ago and they asked if I was “my full name”. When I said yes they asked me if I had just made a $(specific amount) purchase at a bar hundreds of miles away.
I answered no and they told me my card had been cancelled, I had been assigned me a new number which I could use immediately, and that I would receive a new card within X days. Then they thanked me for using their card and said goodbye.
I opened their app on my iPhone and it contained my new card number. Needless to say I was definitely impressed with their customer service.
I’m used to getting calls and the person on the other end asking me to give them the last 4 of my social or something to “verify my identity.”
I usually suggest that they give me some info to indicate that they’re who they say they are. They never know what to do with that. One person said I could call them back to verify. I said “okay”. So then rather than pointing me to a number on a public website or a statement or something they wanted me to write down the callback number.
