I’ve had two Barclaycards cloned in short order recently. On receiving the latest replacement, I had to call in to activate it. A minute or so, I figured. Not so. While waiting I was subjected to a sales pitch. The opening question was “What do I understand by identity theft?”. My reply was to describe the Day of the Jackal style of ID theft – which is what the term means; the assuming of another identity for the purposes of passing off to obtain credit, bank accounts and so on.
The operative was surprised by this – he wasn’t expecting a correct answer. Still, with barely a pause, he launched into his pitch. A pitch for insurance, of course. It always is. My responses were little more than grunts – because I knew what was coming (and really didn’t want to be having this conversation) and eventually, when he realised that my responses were less than enthusiastic, he said, “You are waiting for the catch, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Although I knew exactly what it was.
He then told me that it would cost just under £70 per annum to protect my identity, to alert me to any unusual activity and to provide recovery insurance to clear my name.
If I wanted insurance, I know where to go. But I don’t and, frankly, the risk is much over stated. And, I didn’t call to be sold insurance. I called to activate my card. Therefore, I declined, pointing out that I was perfectly capable of managing to protect my identity and that I didn’t consider the risk to be sufficiently high to warrant taking out insurance cover – cover that includes what the banks should be doing anyway.
It seems Cifas agrees with me. It’s a shame Barclaycard don’t appear to have taken any notice.
I went for a job like that yesterday which I didn’t really know was such a job.
jameshighams last blog post..[crashes] and the marketing of faulty parts
But this is what happens when the simple and pedestrian business of commercial banking which (safely) made consistent but unspectacular profits is overwhelmed by fashionable demands to compete with – and out-earn – every other oufit in the financial supermarket. I joined one of the clearers in the City as assistant to the Chief General Manager in the early 70s. The clearers were gearing up to be more businesslike (my bank even started an annual budgeting process!) and cast envious eyes at the merchant banks which seemed to be conjuring relatively huge profits out of thin air. To cut an extremely long story short, the clearers bought into the whole ball of wax with the result that commercial banking (although still doing the heavy lifting of bank business) takes a back seat to flogging any old financial crap (LR’s ID insurance, PPI insurance, financial “advice” etc etc).
In 40 years your bank was changed from being run by straightforward and pedestrian officers whose horizons were limited to providing commercial banking services well and honestly to being run by an incompetent and greedy load of shysters. I’m not against greed but I abhor incompetence – particularly well-rewarded incompetence. It’s incompetence which has ruined the system not greed: the incompetence of bankers, of their regulators and of the politicians.
I’m always slightly bemused by this concept of “identity theft”.
If someone walks into a bank pretending to be me, and the bank give him £1000 because they think he’s me, then as far as I can see the fraudster has not “stolen” my identity or even my money, but stolen my bank’s money. I would describe that as the bank’s problem, not mine.
We can quibble about my duty not to negligently give away my personal details, where the burden of proof lies, and so on, but the central fact remains that, on any common-sense reading, it is my bank that has been robbed, not me.
Sadly, however, life doesn’t work that way, and John Q. always gets screwed in the end.
Mr Eugenides’ last blog post.."Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque revenit"
The banking code of practice would tend to concur with that line of reasoning, which is why identity theft insurance is unnecessary.
Where ID theft becomes a problem for the person whose identity has been compromised is when criminal activity carried out in their name becomes a nightmare to disprove. After all, Plod will take the line of least resistance; a collar in the hand is less effort than the perp in the bush (to mangle a metaphor).
It is the incompetence of banks, and their arrogance towards their customers [the smaller ones, at any rate], which has helped to precipitate the current crisis of confidence.
In the summer I went abroad for a week, and discovered – at the airport! – that my bank had blocked the pin number on my credit card without informing me. When I got to my destination I phoned them and was told that they were unable to unblock it while I remained abroad. When I protested that I needed it to pay hotel bills etc. they grudgingly said that they could unblock it for me to draw cash, but not for credit use. On my return I protested strongly about this, but received no apology. A couple of weeks later one of their “customer service satisfaction” daleks phoned me out of the blue and asked me how satisfied I was with my latest telephone transaction with the bank. I said I was extremely dissatisfied – whereupon he ploughed on with the rigmarole his questionnaire required him to ask as to how satisfied/dissatisfied I was with this, that and the other. Finally I said “Look, as I have repeatedly told you I am extremely dissatisfied, and if you go on asking me these stupid questions I shall be personally dissatisfied with you. Will you please tell your superiors that I expect a personal telephone call from a senior manager to discuss the matter.”
Did I ever hear another word? Did I hell! And now these banks expect us – the taxpayers – to bail them out of their own folly and negligence.