(10 November 2024)
A busy working day, mid-afternoon. I’ve just made a cuppa, and the phone rings. I pick up.
“Hello, this is Giles.”
“Hi Giles, this is [NAME] from [COMPANY], I’m calling about [FINANCIAL MATTER]. Before I go any further, I just need to do a quick security check if that’s ok, please can you tell me your date of bir –”
We’ve all had calls like this one. Calls from legitimate people at legitimate companies, and in most cases making a legitimate point: of course they need to confirm my identity before we discuss things like finances.
What annoys me, more and more often when these calls crop up, is that the callers - or more accurately, their employers - haven’t stopped to think that maybe they should confirm their identity with me too.
The point of confirming my identity is that the calling company wants to be certain that it’s getting accurate information from the right person. It’s reasonable for that person to want to be certain that they are giving accurate information to the right company. Just because you call me, doesn’t make you legit from my perspective. After all, almost half the calls I get these days are spams, scams or timewasters of some sort.
So it’s down to you, the calling company, to do the hard work to make things simple, and prove who you are, before you ask me to prove myself.
On this occasion, I decide to see what happens if I press the point.
“Thanks so much for calling, but how do I know you really are from [COMPANY]?”
My question seems to throw the caller.
“Errm - well, errm, I really am, and this is just a routine quick call to confirm a few details -”
“Yes of course,” I reply, “but those details include some items of my personal data. I’m reluctant to hand over data like that to any random person who calls me. I mean, you could be anybody.”
“But I’m calling from [COMPANY] -“
“Yes, you say that. But how do I know that for sure?”
I know I’m sounding like a bit of an arsehole, but at the same time - I want to make this point. I keep my voice very cheerful and chirpy. I’m making an arsehole point, but in the most un-arse-ish way I can manage.
The caller is lost for words. They don’t know how to prove anything. There’s some umming and ahhing.
I jump in with a suggestion of my own:
“Hang on,” I say, “can you see the email history between me and your company?”
“Yes.”
“And can you see the dates each email was sent on?”
“Ermm, yes.”
“So, can you tell me the date that I last emailed you?”
“Erm, yes. It was 2nd November.”
“Yes! It was! OK, now I’m confident that you really are from [COMPANY]. How can I help?”
“Can I check your date of birth please?”
The conversation continues, I increase the cheeriness in my voice, and end with a heartfelt “Thank you very much! And thanks for proving where you were calling from, that made me feel much better.”
The caller signs off, hesitant and confused. I get the sense that they can’t decide if I’m an arsehole who’s made a good point, or just an arsehole. I’d like to think they’ll discuss the whole call with their managers, but it feels unlikely.
giles (at) gilest.org
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