how would you have replied?

during dinner, i got a phone call from my health insurance agency. they said the name of my GP and said he called in a referral for me. i said okay. then they proceeded to tell me that they just needed to verify some of my information.

so my response was --i want YOU to verify that you are with XXX insurance. she said "maam, i just told you the name of your GP." i said so what--anyone could find that out. i'm not giving you my birthday, etc. you should have that already.

she then said she would mail me the referral and to have a good night.

now, i'm pretty sure it WAS the insurance agency--although i've gotten a million referrals before and they've never called me. but i was sure as heck NOT going to give them information that they should have already. THEY CALLED ME!!

DH didn't understand why i responded the way i did. i told him that's how you become a victim of identity theft. unless i call them, i'm not giving them any info.

what would you have said? would you have verified your birthday? they said "verify some information", so i'm sure there would have been other questions in addition to that. i'm not giving out my info to a perfect stranger!

Re: how would you have replied?

you did the right thing 100%..its not smart to give info over the phone, and when they call YOU they shouldnt need you to verify a damn thing..

i think you were very smart

Re: how would you have replied?

I would have done the same thing. Or I would have told her I would call her back to make sure I was calling the insurance co's 800 # on my card.

Re: how would you have replied?

I would have responded the same way. If they were calling you, they should have your information. Without being completely sure who I was speaking with, I won't give out any of my info. You did the right thing.

Re: how would you have replied?

I would have listened to the questions, then decided. I don't think you did any harm though.

Re: how would you have replied?

I wouldnt have given any information to a random person who happened to be calling me.

We actually just had a situation at work were we got a e-mail directing us to a site to update our accouts with our bank...well the office manager went to the site and we ended up getting a call from the "bank" to check the info. When my office manager asked her to vairfy where she was calling from she said she would have her manager call us back....they never called back and we found out the e-mail was a fake! Needless to say the office was in a uproar for about a week and we had to close everything and switch everything to another account.

It's so much easier to avoid giving any personal info over the phone.

Re: how would you have replied?

I believe you handled the phone call in the same manner that I would have.

Re: how would you have replied?

I have NEVER heard of an insurance company calling you when they get a referral but I guess you never know.

Was all the info they gave you correct?

it's suspect.

Re: how would you have replied?

I think you were smart to reply that way...I wouldn't have even thought of that when I got a call like that

Re: how would you have replied?

I think you totally did the right thing

Re: how would you have replied?

Absolutely the right thing to do!!! Never give out personal information unless you call them.

Re: how would you have replied?

you TOTALLY did the correct thing. That is BS. your insurance company has all of your application forms.... SS #, B'day, address, contact, even next of kin. they don't have to verify anything over the phone.

I would have said 'well, contact my HR office if there is a problem with my file'

It's funny you posted this today, becuase I just gave my mom 30 lashes on the phone tonight becuase I found out she was divulging info to a random person who called her home....

Re: how would you have replied?

I think I would have done the same thing.

Re: how would you have replied?

You did the right thing!

Re: how would you have replied?

I never would have given them information, either, however, I would have asked for a number to call them back at and an extension. You could have double checked that way. But in general, I do not give anyone who calls me or contacts me by email my information. That's usually backwards and not a safe thing to do.

Re: how would you have replied?

Hopefully I would have had the good sense to do the same thing.

Re: how would you have replied?

I prob would have verified my bday but that is about it. I would not have given my SS# or address. That is very odd! It would have bothered me too!!

Re: how would you have replied?

You did the right thing. I think I would have told her that I would have called them right back & got on the phone with my GP to see if he did indeed give a referral for me (if I didn't know he was doing it).

At the same time, I NEVER give personal information out unless I call them....

Re: how would you have replied?

I think you did the right thing. I would not trust a random call where they had to ask you for information.

Re: how would you have replied?

I agree with PP, there should be no need for you to verify that info.

If you are still uneasy about the situation, give the insurance company a call and see if it's noted that someone contacted you. Or ask if this is normal business practice.

Re: how would you have replied?

I would have done exactly what you did!

Re: how would you have replied?

Absolutely did the right thing.

Social engineering is so successful because, with a small amount of information, many people will believe phone calls like this are legit.

Those bank account emails? That happens with PayPal too. I have never gotten a legit email to change my password for anything. It's a really common scam, and one that a lot of people fall for.

Can you get the phone number from your caller ID and report these people somehow if it turns out it's not legit?

Re: how would you have replied?

With so much identity theft going on today you absolutely did the right thing!