This is the letter my bank sent after I requested a change of address. This is what constitutes security:
“Based on your verbal instructions, we have changed the address on your account(s) to the new address listed above. In order to ensure your protection from fraud, we have mailed this communication.”
They mailed it to the new address. If this was a fraudulent address change, wouldn’t the new address be the wrong one? If I didn’t want my address changed, wouldn’t I be expecting such mail at my old address?
Actually, they probably also mailed it to your old address. I’ve moved around ten times in the last twenty years (courtesy of the military) and what I have seen is they send this notice to both your new and old address. If you did not authorize the address change and receive it at your old address, you can alert the bank the change of address order is fraudulent. My bank, investment accounts, and major credit card all do this.
We’re still getting our email forwarded from the old address so time will tell.
Incidentally, this isn’t the first change-of-address problem. Melanie asked a rep in a branch to change our address weeks ago, but it never happened. Finally, I called and they could only change my information, not Melanie’s, even though it’s a joint account.
And then her card expired as of Aug 31 and she had to rush in to the branch yesterday and finally have another rep change her information and request a new card. What a pain.
Then to make matters worse, the customer service rep called this morning to let me know that they mailed out my new card to the bank branch instead of our home address. So now I have to drive over to the bank to pick up the card.
Changes of address are a hassle, as are all the various things that require social security cards for “identification” (which the card says it’s not supposed to be for).
BTW, though, in terms of privacy, you might not want to let people know whom you bank with.
At some banks, it’s possible to go in in person, ask them to pull up an account by lastname/first name, and if one gets a look at the screen, one can see the list of names and account numbers.
My mom mentioned this years ago, when she noticed it, and saw my estranged brother’s account listed on the screen next to theirs. She was worried that might prove too tempting to my crazy sister-in-law.
Nowhere did I say where I bank and I carefully redacted it from the photo.