Ask a silly question
A survey of Australians has found that they share the same concerns as
Brits over security when dealing with telephone call-centres.
When asked to answer a question requesting personal details, or a
transaction history question, to confirm their identity over the phone
52 per cent of people thought their details were vulnerable to theft.
Three quarters of women are concerned about fraud and identity theft. Over the past couple of years, 69 per cent say that they have also been more careful about sharing personal information. Only 51 per cent of men say that they were concerned about identity theft.
"The survey results provide an interesting insight into concerns about revealing personal information, which highlights the need for all organisations to have appropriate security measures in place," said Paul Magee, managing director of VeCommerce - a voice recognition company.
"The fact that people feel their details are not secure is certainly not helping to improve the customer experience."
Householders worried by telephone calls which come "out-of-the-blue" from banks, motor or home insurers, or utility companies should take the name and company details of the caller, but should then return the call using a telephone number from a letterhead, phonebook or internet website, to call back.
April 16th 2008