I didn't know which section to put this in, but as everyone usually has a moan about call centres, I thought here was as good as the Banking section. My mother was housebound for some years before she died and I arranged telephone banking for her. However, her telephone was in the hall - quite a way from where she sat - and the press this button if you want this ... caused her so much distress that she didn't use it and asked me to do things for her. The first time I tried, I gave them all the passwords etc and then they asked my name, and when I gave it they demanded to speak to my mother. So I had to get her out of her chair and to the hall to confirm that I was calling on her behalf ( this was utter nonsense because , as I had known all the passwords etc, I could have got any female accomplice to pretend to be my mother). Anyway, the next time I called on her behalf and got the call centre in India, when the Indian guy asked for my name I said "Lucy" (my mother's name). There was a pause, when I could hear his cultural brain cells ticking over ( Is Lucy a man's name ? Should I question the caller about this ?). Eventually we continued with no problem. My point (as a grumpy old man) is that security questions have to be meaningful and not just hot air.
