Last week we called the investment company we use because it was time to make my IRA contribution for 2014. Vince was talking to them because I’d rather he do all that kind of stuff but the guy on the phone told him “That account is frozen because of some kind of suspicious activity . . and it’s been frozen since 2012.” Vince then handed me the phone to deal with it because it was lunch time and he had to go back to work.
Me: What? I’ve been using that account!
Investment Guy: Nope, it’s frozen. When was the last time you used it?
Me: Two weeks ago!
Investment Guy: Well it’s frozen, and has been since 2012, so you can’t be using it!
Me: Do you see that I’ve been using it?
Investment Guy: Yes . . but it’s frozen so you can’t use it.
Good grief! This is supposed to be a great company. We’ve dealt with them for 15 years and never had issues so I wasn’t too concerned. He transfers me to the security department that can supposedly “thaw” my account.
Man: I’m going to ask you a few questions and this is info that was obtained from public records.
Me: OK.
Man: The first question . . Of the people I’m going to name, tell me which one you know . . and he goes about naming four people.
The BIG problem is that the only one I know is my ex-husband . . from whom I’ve been divorced 20+ years and it wasn’t a nice divorce and I certainly didn’t need to be reminded of him! But, I answered the question and went on from there.
Next question:
Man: You have or have in the past owned a 1996 Chevrolet truck. Was it: (a) Blue (b) Black (c) Green (d) Lavender (e) I’ve never owned a Chevrolet truck.
Me: We still own it and it is none of those colors.
Man: What’s your answer?
Me: None of the above.
Man: You have to pick one.
Me: How can I pick one when it is none of the above. I am looking out the window at the truck. I can send you a picture of the truck!
Man: Do you want me to put “I’ve never owned a Chevrolet truck?”
Me: NO! That’s not true.
Man: Well, I’ll just pick lavender.
Me: When was the last time you saw a lavender truck?
Man: I’m not even sure what color lavender is.
At that point, I pretty much unloaded on him about the ex-husband and the color of the truck. He didn’t care! He just had to get enough correct answers to questions to unlock my frozen account that I should not have been able to use for the past 3 years but I had been using.
Then he told me that I had to change all my user ids and passwords. We did that. He told me to wait about half an hour and then log back in using the new info and change the password from the one he had just reset. I waited about 30 minutes, tried it. It didn’t work. I waited another 30 minutes, tried again. Didn’t work. Called back, talked to someone else. He couldn’t figure out what the first guy had done but my original user ids were still working, though none of the passwords worked so he walked me through changing everything. Then about 3 hours later, I got an email that the user ids and passwords had been changed . . and this was all what I had done with the first guy so once again, none of the passwords were working and I had to call back and go through it all again. Grrrr!
To make matters worse, our investment “advisor” called yesterday and was telling me that since we’re getting closer to retirement age, he had some recommendations for us. “Would tomorrow at 10 a.m. be a good time to call you so we can spend half an hour or so talking about some options?” Sure . . 10:00 would be fine.
Do you think he called? Nope. Do you think I’m seriously considering changing where we have our investments? Yes! I am just a tad frustrated with them.
Pdudgeon says
Great Scott! I would definitely be worried had i gotten those kind of ‘security’ questions. there is an outside possibility that the person you dealt with wasn’t well trained, but if it were me, i would ask to speak to a supervisor the next time you call them.
Sheri says
So … if he’s asking you security questions that was obtained from public records, how exactly is that “security”? (That whole experience would have driven me crazy, too.)
Barbara says
A friend got a safety deposit box at a local bank and put valuables in it. Went back to the bank a few weeks later and they had no record. She had the bank box key but it didn’t have a number on it and all they could say was sorry, we have no record of your renting a box….there is absolutely nothing we can do.
A few weeks later someone ‘found’ the initial paper work that had the box number on it…she went to the bank right away and took everything out of the safety deposit box and closed all accounts with them.
It had a lot of us doing some serious thinking about trusting anyone with anything important or valuable.
Linda in NE says
I went through the same questioning when one of my credit cards was compromised. Also when I was shut out of a grant account for the fire dept. In that case everything I was told to do, and followed to the letter, didn’t work. Grrrr. Finally some nice lady in D.C. took pity and fixed it for me. Today I was helping a new neighboring librarian fill out e-rate forms. The forms have been changed but the instructions haven’t caught up. Again, grrrrr. Don’t even ask me about the time I had to replace a satellite receiver and had to get it authorized!!
Question: If your IRA has been frozen since 2012 what happened to the money that was put in since then?
Joyce says
I hate dealing with those types of situations. And companies wonder why you don’t want to talk to them… Good luck with getting it all straightened out. I will say I’ve had good luck dealing with the credit card company when it has been compromised! (Knock on wood!)
Diana In R.R says
Ours has been great and he is so on top of things that he calls and has everything ready to tell us when he does call. Galen will be 70 in June so he called the other day with about what he will need to withdraw and paper work will be in the mail. We set Dad up with him as well. He calls proably every 3 months to see how we are doing. Any questions, here’s some things we may want to look at etc. Galen had been handling his own stuff and 5 years ago when he had the heart attack I asked him to move his stiff to one place. I think he is also happy he did.
Katherine says
My husband has the same sort of security runaround when he goes to print the tax forms for an online account. They always seem to have security questions for him and want to know past addresses you have been associated with. One this time was an address of my mom’s, another was 2 different street numbers on the same street where his apt was in grad school over 20 years ago. Crazy!
Karen Sutton says
Oh, Judy. That’s scary. I’d be moving my money so fast it would make your head spin. Good luck.
Gisela Suski says
Please be careful, A friend of mine had their social security # stolen and it has been a nightmare. She was doing her taxes now it will be six months before she gets her tax return.
Diane - FL says
It doesn’t leave you with that warm fuzzy feeling does it?