But I wonder whether we should be. We've been getting calls for the last couple of weeks, from a call center who is identifying itself as BofA. Of course at first you think it's legitimate. We sometimes get a fraud alert call if they are monitoring our credit card.
The first few calls went something like this:
Call Center: Hello Mr xxx (mispronounced). This is BofA. We have important information about your account, but first we would like to verify your mailing address.
R: Do you realize it is 8:30 at night? Why is my bank calling at 8:30 at night?
CC: We are technically allowed to call until 9:00 pm, Sir.
R: Is this a solicitation call? A credit fraud alert call?
CC: We cannot discuss the purpose of the call until you verify your information.
R: I will not verify my address with you. My bank already knows my address.
CC: Sir, this is an important call regarding your account.
R: I am in good standing with BofA. What is the purpose of the call?
CC: If we can only verify --
R: I am on a Do Not Call list for Solicitation. You are legally not supposed to be calling.
CC: We have the legal right to call.
R: On what grounds?
CC: This is regarding your account.
R: How do I know this is BofA.
CC: You can return the call to verify at 1-800-669-0102.
R: How about we call the customer service number on the back of my BofA card instead?
R: Better yet, let's take a little field trip to the internet, shall we? (sounds of typing)
R: Well looky there. 1-800-669-0102, is that correct?
CC: Yes.
R: There are a lot of links to that number online: Fraud. Fraud. Fraud. Fraud. Fraud.
CC: I assure you we are legitimate.
R: But you have no information for the account you are discussing. And you are unwilling to tell me the purpose of the call without asking for secure information over the phone. How does that make you legitimate?
CC: Sir, don't get upset. You shouldn't be taking this personally.
R: (much cursing, and hanging up)
Indeed. What is more personal than protecting our financial reputation?
Since this all came up, we took a trip to the bank, called the 800 call center, lodged a complaint with the online fraud department to sympathetic listeners. The real BofA is totally aware. And just for fun we even called that number they gave us over the phone to see what would happen, and do you know what? The automated answerer said they would be happy to connect you to a representative as soon as you ... verify some personal information.
Unfortunately this scenario has been repeated once or twice a day since.
'Hi, I'm from BofA.' Sometimes we just laugh before hanging up. Sometimes we hash it out with them again and again and Einstein comes to mind when we do:
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
The callers have different dialects and accents, men and women, day and night, a continuous stream of calls. Our response varies from being (a lot more) heated to (a lot more) calm, but they are not deterred.
Last night's call involved a new tack: we told him we had closed all accounts and moved our money out of BofA because of the harassing calls.
'Will you take us off your call list now?' was the burning question.
And the reply? 'No, Sir. Not until you verify the information.'
Maybe it's time to ditch the landline after all.
http://tinypundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/bank-of-america-or-tele-scam-800-669.html
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