[Gllug] [OT] data protection 'phone calls

[JLMS]

On 31 January 2012 11:58, Alain Williams <addw at phcomp.co.uk> wrote:
> Somewhat OT for the list, but I suspect that someone may have the info that I want.
>
> Hi,
>
> I am having a row with a UK Govt department. When they 'phone (number with held) they
> insist in me proving who I am ('what is your NI number') before they will prove
> who they are[**] - the result is that I refuse to speak to them.
>
> I have told them about social engineering and scammers who 'phone people, they
> can't see my point and just got annoyed when I said that I had to regard their
> staff 'phoning me as scammers.
>
> Can anyone point me to succinct advice (preferably from the UK govt, police,
> ICO, ...) that says that it is good practice to for an organisation to provide
> proof of who they are when the 'phone someone to discuss private/sensitive
> matters. I have tried googling, but not really come up with what I am looking
> for.
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
>
>
> [**] They say that the will not prove who they are since would involve them
> giving out personal information when they are not sure of my identity :-)
>
> They persist in 'phoning me in spite of my repeated requests to correspond by
> post, but that is a secondary issue.
>


Don't bulge.

All kind of companies (and now obviously the government itself) call
you without you having any way to know if you are getting a bona fide
call or a scammer trying to get that bit of information about you that
he is missing.

I always tell them to tell me what the call is about and that I will
call them back by means of their published contact numbers.

Nothing else should be acceptable.
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