OT: Cunning new scam.

The scammers don't put their phone down at the end of the 'first' call so that when you dial your credit card company's number it goes nowhere. They're still on the line and respond to your 'new' call as though they are the credit card company.

NO !!!!!

The scammers don't hang up, which means the line is still connected. The called party (Dave Plowman) hangs up, and when he picks the receiver up, hears a dial tone which is being played by the scammers. He dials, and they "answer".

That's the USP of this scam - it tricks people into a sense of security.

A whiel ago I noticed that each time a website said it was taking me to the VbV (or Mastercard equivalent) check site, I was not actually being shown my passphrase or being asked anything. I rang my bank's online helpdesk and they confirmed that their scheme assesses risk, and only actually asks for input if the transaction is unusual or above a certain limit.

I understood the rest but this puzzled me. You've changed your mother? You've changed your mother's maiden name?

So the problem is caused by calling back straight away and not hanging up and waiting 10 mins. Is 10 mins a safe time to wait?

It's simple. You don't tell people the real value of your mother's maiden name, or what school you went to or anything else. Most of these things are not secrets, and it's too easy for call-centre staff etc to try to use the info themselves or sell it on.

If someone asks me the name of my first pet, even if I'd had a first pet, I wouldn't give an accurate answer... because other people in my family would know it.

There are obvious exceptions - financial institutions etc where you're entering a contract and they might actually research you.

Otherwise the values you give to standard questions are really just passwords. It's completely irrelevant what the answer is, just that you can produce it if needed.

It depends on how long they are willing to keep the line open by not putting their phone down. Or on how long it takes for the telephone company to automatically close the line.

The problem is caused by the 'target' not realising that the scammers have not put their phone down and ended the call.

When a site/organisation asks for your mother's maiden name when setting up security you don't have to give them your mother's maiden name. Give them a different name and that's another layer of security.

These transactions are all fed through various fraud systems at the bank, which look for dramatic changes in spending, physical impossibility, unusual transactions and loads of other things before they decide what to do, which may be anything from allowing the transaction, referring it for human inspection, referring it for enhanced machine inspection, refusing the transaction, stopping the card and so on. This is why it is a good idea to tell your bank you're going to be out of the country (for example), or buying a car on the CC, so you don't trip these systems.

We rarely spend more than £150 on our joint debit card. We used it in April to pay £1,350 to a car dealer, and the transaction went through no problem. No checks or phone calls.

I thought it had been stated that this time is zero for a mobile call, 3 mins (IIRC) for an ordinary landline, and less than this for a call from overseas. I was seeking confirmation of numbers.

I assume it was a penguin.

as long as you can remember it.

I can think of several names that are a lot more memorable to me than my mother's maiden name.

Colin Bignell

indeed, but can you remember which one of them you used on any particular site?

what is my mothers maiden name? Dunno. I was an orphan. what is the name of your first skool Bash st academy. What was the first car you drive? An Aston martin. (Might as well lie about EVERYTHING).

Thatcher, presumably ? :-)

Why not? No one in their right mind uses the real one. I give the name of a dead cat as mine.

I had a problem with internet banking earlier, and for some reason had to change that as one of the security questions. But had forgotten. ;-)