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Comment by nopeYouAreWrong | Hacker News Reader

I'm so skeptical of these "experts" especially if they write a blog post where they hate their bank.

I've been with Wells for over a decade. They have never called me. Never.

I have had "fraud" alerts hundreds of times. They always happen at certain POS, and it's always a text alert.

Some of the stories I read make me viscerally react with "what in the world are you doing with something as simple as a bank account?"

Also a fundamental default is "no action". If you are even slightly suspicious, do nothing. It isn't somehow so important that you stop thinking and just act or react. Just stop.

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My wife used Well's Fargo, I've heard about how they don't like to bother customers, in fact they hate it so much they didn't even bother notifying customers when opening new accounts for them, or performing actions on their behalf to generate fees.

Also, no one asked for the account to be opened or for the fee-generating actions to be performed.

(They're still not out from under that Federal Reserve asset cap!)

> I'm so skeptical of these "experts" especially if they write a blog post where they hate their bank.

Really? That's the thing that makes you skeptical and feel the need to use scare quotes?

Banks suck. Hell, mine hasn't even implemented proper 2FA.

And Wells Fargo is so bad they've been caught scamming their own customers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Fargo_account_fraud_scan...

The point is not that banks don't suck - it's that a professional will not inject that sentiment into a post on another topic. And if a professional does mention it, they will do so in a way that doesn't sound like blanket griping, but will instead focus on specific facts about that bank that cause them to recommend against them. And finally - it would be a former bank, not a current one.

The author does seem to bang on about his "reasonable assumptions" for how much Wells and Apple Pay suck, so he should continue the call! Like he's just too clever to follow the advice he'd give everyone else to hang up and call back.

I'm honestly surprised he even wrote this if he claims to be an expert.

He literally ignored half of what the rep was saying because he was busy fiddling with the computer, then willingly gave up all his personal information because of the distraction.

You would think an expert would know how to properly use 2 factor auth too. Giving someone the code is exactly how you defeat it.

I didn't read it as explaining why she should continue the call, just why she did continue the call. She's explaining why those things didn't immediately trigger the scam alarm. Nowhere did I see her claim to be too clever to do anything.

I found it an interesting read which details an experience which is far removed from how you expect a scam call to occur. It's interesting to read the signs which should have been alarm bells, but which were dismissed because nobody is perfect all the time.

The author very kindly addresses my comment in a PS:

I also, admittedly, allowed my cynicism toward my own industry and Wells Fargo to cloud my judgment; I didn't know the first thing about Apple Pay or Google Pay prior to this incident, but I don't have particularly positive experiences or feelings toward either company, and it's extremely common for the process of fixing someone else's mistake on large tech platforms to be nightmarishly convoluted.

Ultimately she did realise & fix her mistake - at some pace - lost nothing, and got an up-close view of a scam in progress.

> I'm so skeptical of these "experts" especially if they write a blog post where they hate their bank.

There is a nearly endless list of legitimate reasons for one to hate Wells Fargo.

I've had other banks call for fraud alerts.

Once, I got a call about attempted activity on a debit card. The person gave the wrong last four digits of the card number, then the call dropped due to poor cell reception.

This was on Christmas Eve or something. I called the number on the back of the card, but they were an outsourced call center for card replacements. Fraud alerts had been outsourced to a different company, so they had no idea if the call was legit.

I went into the physical branch the next week, and spoke to a manager. They said it could be legitimate or not. I think we ordered replacement cards at that point, and watched the next few statements more closely than normal.

Honestly, the behavior of the scammer sounds more legitimate than the actual non-scam behavior of the last half dozen banks I've dealt with.

I think it was important of the author to put that out there, expert or not. It made me take a mental inventory, and bolster my first-responder thoughts.

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