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> The advice from Krebs about phone calls is never talk to "the bank" (etc) when they call you, always you have to call them back. But the bank _will_ really so
by tshaddox 5y ago
> The advice from Krebs about phone calls is never talk to "the bank" (etc) when they call you, always you have to call them back. But the bank _will_ really sometimes contact you "out of the blue" to ask you about potential fraud on your account. You just have to hang up and call them back, you can't tell the difference based on "reasons".
Don't forget that you have to call them back by looking up your bank's phone number yourself from a trusted source (perhaps their HTTPS website). Obviously just calling back the number they called you from (or provided to you) is useless.
- jfengel 5y agoIt baffles me that their fraud alert texts include a callback number. It's like training users to be gullible. It should say "Call us back at the number on the back of your card", or some such. I'm sure they're afraid that a lot of users won't figure that out, but it still seems like a weird tradeoff.
- tinus_hn 5y agoUnfortunately not having a phone number on the back of the card saves a ton of money on customer service calls.
- jfengel 5y agoMy cards all have a toll-free number on the back of the card. When I get a call, text, or email from my CC company that requires a phone call, I call them at that number.
- tinus_hn 5y agoThat’s great! Most banks do not have that because it might be toll-free for you, it definitely isn’t free for them.
- jrochkind1 5y agoHm, in the USA I've never seen a credit or debit card without a customer service phone number on the back.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoI doubt that is true in the US. In 20 years, I have never come across a card without a phone number on it for customer service.
- astura 5y agoYou're really saying "most" banks don't have a customer service number on the back of their payment card? Sorry, no, this just isn't true. I just checked my own debit and credit cards. 27 (twenty-seven) of them have a phone number printed on the card itself, only one doesn't - that's SoFi Money debit card, it says "for assistance please visit the SoFi app or SoFi.com." it's also just one extra step to phone support - I opened the app and clicked "help" and there was "Call Money support" as the first option.
- MaxBarraclough 5y agoThis hasn't happened to me personally, but I've read of security-conscious people receiving legitimate fraud-warning calls from their bank, and then struggling to get back in contact with the right people. Not every bank is set up to deal with security-conscious customers, apparently.
- grogenaut 5y agoI've dealt with several companies and banks (mortgages) that were very weirded out by me saying "I'll call you back to verify you are the bank"... Even up to their security people.