5 ms·

This. A while ago, my wife got a call from a collections agency on my phone. They asked for her name, I asked "which one?" She said "I can only talk to ____."

This. A while ago, my wife got a call from a collections agency on my phone. They asked for her name, I asked "which one?" She said "I can only talk to ____." I said, "I understand but which one would are you looking for the older or younger?" "I can't share that information." "Then I can't put you in touch with who you're looking for if you can't tell me who you're looking for." "I can only speak with ____." I said "Ok, tell me the last 4 of her social and I'll know which one you're looking for." "That's private information, sir." "No, that's the public portion of a social security number. Tell you what, since you're learning how this works, I'll make it easy on you: I'll give you the first digit and you tell me the last. That way we both know we have the same 'protected information'. If I give you the wrong starting number or you give me the wrong ending number, we both know we have the wrong person." "I need to speak with _____." I gave her the starting number but she didn't budge. I finally said "okay, since you can't verify who you're looking for, I'm going to just tell you you have the wrong number. This is my cell phone, not ____'s. You may send a letter, but this is not the correct phone number for who you're looking for. Please, do not call me again." While all this was going on she gave me the name of the collection company which I was able to Google and determine it was a legit operation and located not too far away. A medical provider never got our correct address, but it just showed me how overly trusting some companies expect people to be. Nah, this is a two-way verification. If you're gonna call me, you need to give a little to prove to me you're legit.

ceejayoz 5y ago
> No, that's the public portion of a social security number. It really isn't.
- abofh 5y ago
  Indeed, the first three are dependent on the state that issued your SSN, and the next two often are sequence bits roughly correlating to when it was issued. If anything, those are the public bits
  - 0des 5y ago
    They are not numbered by state anymore
    - jcranmer 5y ago
      The change was done in 2011, so very likely the geographical-based system applies to anyone fielding collections agency phone calls in the present day.
      - 0des 5y ago
        True, I'll give you that
- adonovan 5y ago
  Regardless of original intent, at this point, it really is.
- xwdv 5y ago
  It is, and you must set aside your personal feelings and treat it as public info. If people think these digits are like some secret password, they will be treated as such and used to gatekeep access to even more restricted info and accounts. Which would be a disaster because many people have had these last four digits exposed over time. Knowing them does not prove identity. They are public.
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    You might as well assume your entire SSN is public. Most of them have been leaked someplace or other, and for anyone who was an adult before about 2000 it was common to have them pre-printed on your personal checks. It's only in the past few decades that they have suddenly become "secret." That someone who called you on the phone happens to know your SSN last four or even the entire number should not confer any trust on your part.
    - xwdv 5y ago
      The second you believe your SSN represents privileged information, that’s when you get taken advantage of.
  - ceejayoz 5y ago
    Like it or not, many banks and other industries use it as a verification question. A collections agent is going to be explicitly and strictly forbidden by policy from disclosing it to an unknown person on the phone, and that's a good thing. Yes, I'm pretty sure everyone has my SSN and other details, but collections agents should absolutely follow the rules. The ones that don't tend to be abusive.
srvmshr 5y ago
The last time I received such a call, I just told them in Hindi to not to call me again, and that I knew it was an obvious fake. I could hear them muttering something in Hindi on the other end while hanging up. The tongue-rolled accent & peculiar pronunciations / choice of words is a giveaway. A large number of these IRS & collections call originate from call centers in India.
pwg 5y ago
> A while ago, my wife got a call from a collections agency on my phone. I occasionally get calls on my number from a caller asking for my brother. My standard response has always, from the first time one came in, been: "there is no one at this number by that name". > You may send a letter, ... If one /ever/ gets a call from anyone purporting to be a "collections agency" then this ("send a letter") is the /only/ correct response that should ever be given. You may want/need that legal record later.
smeej 5y ago
I once sold a house while in a different state, and the real estate agent was positively baffled that I wanted to know how the person who was supposed to collect my banking information and identifying information would identify himself to me. They really just expected me to meet some guy in a polo shirt at a coffee shop and let him take a snapshot of my passport and all my bank account info. Frankly scammers have it too easy when the real thing works like this!

ceejayoz 5y ago

> No, that's the public portion of a social security number. It really isn't.

abofh 5y ago
Indeed, the first three are dependent on the state that issued your SSN, and the next two often are sequence bits roughly correlating to when it was issued. If anything, those are the public bits
- 0des 5y ago
  They are not numbered by state anymore
  - jcranmer 5y ago
    The change was done in 2011, so very likely the geographical-based system applies to anyone fielding collections agency phone calls in the present day.
    - 0des 5y ago
      True, I'll give you that
adonovan 5y ago
Regardless of original intent, at this point, it really is.
xwdv 5y ago
It is, and you must set aside your personal feelings and treat it as public info. If people think these digits are like some secret password, they will be treated as such and used to gatekeep access to even more restricted info and accounts. Which would be a disaster because many people have had these last four digits exposed over time. Knowing them does not prove identity. They are public.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  You might as well assume your entire SSN is public. Most of them have been leaked someplace or other, and for anyone who was an adult before about 2000 it was common to have them pre-printed on your personal checks. It's only in the past few decades that they have suddenly become "secret." That someone who called you on the phone happens to know your SSN last four or even the entire number should not confer any trust on your part.
  - xwdv 5y ago
    The second you believe your SSN represents privileged information, that’s when you get taken advantage of.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  Like it or not, many banks and other industries use it as a verification question. A collections agent is going to be explicitly and strictly forbidden by policy from disclosing it to an unknown person on the phone, and that's a good thing. Yes, I'm pretty sure everyone has my SSN and other details, but collections agents should absolutely follow the rules. The ones that don't tend to be abusive.

srvmshr 5y ago

The last time I received such a call, I just told them in Hindi to not to call me again, and that I knew it was an obvious fake. I could hear them muttering something in Hindi on the other end while hanging up. The tongue-rolled accent & peculiar pronunciations / choice of words is a giveaway. A large number of these IRS & collections call originate from call centers in India.

pwg 5y ago

> A while ago, my wife got a call from a collections agency on my phone. I occasionally get calls on my number from a caller asking for my brother. My standard response has always, from the first time one came in, been: "there is no one at this number by that name". > You may send a letter, ... If one /ever/ gets a call from anyone purporting to be a "collections agency" then this ("send a letter") is the /only/ correct response that should ever be given. You may want/need that legal record later.

smeej 5y ago

I once sold a house while in a different state, and the real estate agent was positively baffled that I wanted to know how the person who was supposed to collect my banking information and identifying information would identify himself to me. They really just expected me to meet some guy in a polo shirt at a coffee shop and let him take a snapshot of my passport and all my bank account info. Frankly scammers have it too easy when the real thing works like this!