{"id":14315,"date":"2013-03-13T16:37:42","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T16:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=14315"},"modified":"2013-03-13T16:37:42","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T16:37:42","slug":"bank-of-irelands-stupid-phishing-phone-calls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=14315","title":{"rendered":"Bank of Ireland\u2019s Stupid Phishing Phone Calls"},"content":{"rendered":"

This afternoon I got a phone call from a -blocked- phone number.  I answered.  The person who called said he was calling me from Bank of Ireland.  I got the usual \u201cthe call is being recording for training purposes\u201d speech.  And then the shocker:<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to ask you some security questions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Huh?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. This person called me<\/em>.  I assume he got my number from a database.  OK, my phone could have been stolen.  But let\u2019s remember that he called me<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  2. He was going to ask me the security questions?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Who the hell was he?  This could be any geezer with caller ID disabled on his phone and reading off an official sounding script.  Let\u2019s imagine he asks me to confirm my date-of-birth, my credit card number, and my mother\u2019s maiden name, etc.  What\u2019s to stop that dude from calling the bank and claiming to be me?<\/p>\n

    I refused to proceed.  To be honest, I knew it was BoI and I knew why he was calling.  But I wanted to highlight how stupid this \u201cphishing\u201d practice was.  The guy in question understood and told me how I could contact the bank to proceed.  He was quite professional about it, and not to blame for the process he was force to follow by his employer\/manager.<\/p>\n

    But the call from block number practice followed by asking security questions process is ridiculous.  I took to Twitter to let BoI know what I thought:<\/p>\n

    \"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    This is the response that I got:<\/p>\n

    \"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    So let\u2019s imagine the scenario out:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The Prince of Abuja picks up his phone, blocks caller ID, and calls me.  He reads out the \u201ccall is being recorded\u201d script and starts out with the security question process.<\/li>\n
    2. I stop him because I don\u2019t want my security question answers to be phished.<\/li>\n
    3. The Prince of Abuja now says \u201cSure, my name is Prince of Abuja and you can call me on 01 4567890 and I\u2019ll be happy to help you\u201d<\/li>\n
    4. I call 01 4567890<\/li>\n
    5. The Prince of Abuja now asks me the questions and I give him the answers<\/li>\n
    6. Now the Prince of Abuja has the necessary information to call Bank of Ireland and pretend to be me.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Bank of Ireland, this is the most ridiculous \u201csecurity\u201d practice.  It\u2019s clear that you don\u2019t have the first clue about data or identity security.  I am not a real<\/em> security expert but I know enough not to be sharing information in this manner.<\/p>\n

      Jeez!<\/p>\n

      Technorati Tags: Security<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This afternoon I got a phone call from a -blocked- phone number.  I answered.  The person who called said he was calling me from Bank of Ireland.  I got the usual \u201cthe call is being recording for training purposes\u201d speech.  And then the shocker: \u201cI need to ask you some security questions\u201d. Huh? This person … Continue reading “Bank of Ireland\u2019s Stupid Phishing Phone Calls”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[190],"class_list":["post-14315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","tag-security"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t