This was not a shop or related to mystery shopping at all.

I got a phone call on my cell phone this afternoon from a personal banker at a branch I rarely visit...I was in the area of that branch a few days ago doing some work, and I went through the drive thru and deposited a check. Anyway, the banker identified himself and said he knew I had come into the branch a few days ago (I didn't go in) and would love to sit down with me and discuss some ways he thought he could help me save some money. He said that he noticed that I paid a lot of credit card bills online with my online bill pay and he could help me consolidate my debt. WHAT????? How does some banker I have never met know what I am doing on the website with online bill payment? Does this not seem like an invasion of privacy? I told him I pay off my balances each month and have 0 debt. He sounded disappointed as he told me that 75% of Americans were in debt. I told him that I was not one of them. He then went on to tell me I also qualified for a home equity line of credit if I was interested. I politely told him I had no need for that either, and that I had to go. I got off the phone...and then I promptly called the corporate office customer service and filed a complaint. I was certain that this was some sort of predatory lending tactics and has to be against the bank's policies...snooping around a customer's banking practices without permission? The customer service associate I spoke with agreed with me. She filed my complaint and said that they would investigate and get back with me. What do you all think about that? Is it even legal for him to do that?

I don't know if it is legal but you may want to watch your back in case he gets upset with you for reporting him. When you leave your house, etc. I certainly think it was intruding on your privacy. I've gotten calls on my cell from banks/brokerage houses wanting to help me invest. Didn't like it so I blocked them.

Thanks for the heads up, I will be mindful. I am not sure if they will give him my name or not, but I bet I am not the only customer he has tried to solicit business from...his spying on people's online banking activities is very unsettling.

Unprofessional way to get business, this guy must have been scared of losing his job unless he made his quota, but, I'd be shaken up and glad you reported him...the question remains, how did he know what you do online, I guess he was pretending to scare you for information ...they should fire him.and how did he get your cell #?

My cell phone number is listed in my banking profile for a secondary contact (in case of some sort of bank fraud activities or other banking issues), but I don't like people calling me on it that I don't know. So he had to be fishing around on my account to get the phone number? And definitely to know that I pay a lot of credit card bills online. The average person does not have as many credit cards as I do, so he had to be looking on the website at my online bill payment to know this.

He didn't pick you at random. Either your visit triggered his call or he was trolling through the customer base and the timing is coincidence. Either way, he may have been acting in accordance with some ill-conceived bank policy of farming the customer base.

Sounds like Wells Fargo is up to their old tricks. Or other banks think they can follow suit without getting caught.

It's a smaller regional bank, but yes, tricksters.

He mentioned during his call that he knew I'd been in the bank recently. The customer service associate I called after said it was NOT bank pokicy.

@panama18 wrote:

He didn't pick you at random. Either your visit triggered his call or he was trolling through the customer base and the timing is coincidence. Either way, he may have been acting in accordance with some ill-conceived bank policy of farming the customer base.

Sounds like a SCAM! I guess you knew that they were from your bank. I would never have answered any of their questions. Definitely would consider this invasive.

Yeah, sort of a scam...perpetuated by my bank. No way that this guy could have known I was in the branch and how I conduct my online banking otherwise. I am considering closing out my account, but I have so much stuff tied to that account with direct deposit, etc. that I don't really want to do that. Plus, I have been with the bank for 17 years.

I was thinking that too, maybe close the account if you have other good options. Are they a top notch bank ? I don't know if you have enough money in there to get a good interest rate ? We just switched to a nationally known bank that has local offices to get a better interest rate. If you don't close out your account maybe you can migrate some of the services to another bank.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Yeah, sort of a scam...perpetuated by my bank. No way that this guy could have known I was in the branch and how I conduct my online banking otherwise. I am considering closing out my account, but I have so much stuff tied to that account with direct deposit, etc. that I don't really want to do that. Plus, I have been with the bank for 17 years.

It was a fraudsters for sure. He was just trying to scam you..!! You did good work by reporting him..!!

I actually have two other checking accounts with other banks. It's just going to be time consuming, but I am going to get away from this bank.

Didn't bother to rehash the commentary about a personal banker (or possibly spoofer) making what could in some circles be involved in poor business practices or something along those lines...

Now to play devil;s advocate here. I tend to get to know the folks I do business with pretty well. And in my case, if indeed it's my banker, doctor, lawyer, mechanic, or so on. they're welcome to be helpful and us their expertise to make my life better. Practically all of my "Private Clients" are folks that one or the other of us has engaged in perhaps "Non tratitional" activity in terms of our relationships. While generally professional, yes, I've baby sat, dog sat, and so on for folks who I jive with well. One of my favorite doctors likes it when I schedule my appointments for last in the day, and yup, we'll sometimes be chattering on about stuff till a few hours after closing. But then, I'm the boss with my outfit, and he's the boss with his outfit, and frankly, I think life is richer when it can be lived with plenty of peers about instead of being isolated and peerless.

Anyway, it's kinda cool when your mechanic calls and invites you to join them and their family at one of their favorite restaurants for breakfast before they open the shop on a Saturday. Point is, I don't, won't, and never intend to use anything to do with "professional(ism,ly, standards, etc.) to intrude upon either my humanity nor the humanity of others around me, not if I can help it, anyway.

My point? Sure, that banker or imposter could be bad news, however, in my experience, it's entirely possible that they could be lifelong friend material, too. And for my part, it's seems better business with folks you've known for sometimes decades and are sorta like exended family than with someone who's in a box and treats you like you're in a box, too.

Be careful, JAS. Sorry this happened to you. Sounds like he was desperate to make a quota or something.

Ap7, I had never met or seen this guy, ever. A female drive thru teller assisted me with my deposit. Its not a branch I visit often as its not near my home. And, being a married female, I'm not looking to cultivate a friendship with this man.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2019 10:20AM by JASFLALMT.

Re-read this thread. Was there a red flag? Did you inadvertently trigger something in the bank's system? After all, you were not at your usual branch or branches; the staff did not see you in person in the lobby and they would not be able to identify you by sight; and you had a number (a large-ish number, according to banking knowledge? ) of payments going through your account. In this situation, the banker responded to a system cue, and not to you personally.

JAS...Bank of America is being shopped...

Hi Irene, I have two other checking accounts, so I am good but thanks!

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Ap7, I had never met or seen this guy, ever. A female drive thru teller assisted me with my deposit. Its not a branch I visit often as its not near my home. And, being a married female, I'm not looking to cultivate a friendship with this man.

Understood, up to a point, but then, I have numerous folks around that I consider practically family and in all humility, I literally see the human race as nearly 8 billion folks I could be pals with under optimal conditions. I'm sure plenty of folks look at me askance sometimes when I'm helpful, but then, as the saying goes, unto the pure, all things are pure, others dwell in impurity. That's based on Titus 1:15 "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."

Your concern might be warranted, sure, but what if the situation was simply a pure hearted noble person that's a bit gung ho and want's to bust their chops and do the best for the bank and it's customers? I've ran across many people like that in my time. Also ran into many filled with fear and literally afraid of their own shadows, and suffering life in a constant state of various agonies.

I'll put it another way, I occasionally offer to be helpful when I see a need, and sure, plenty of times, the potential recipient will not engage in the process. No problem, that being said, it sure feels good when I'm able to buy a young lady a car and now she's management somewhere and she plus her two kids are in a seriously better state of affairs than they'd likely be otherwise. And no, I don't particularly care what her ex, father, mother, not sisters think. When I came across them, I decided they were a cool outfit, so I adopted them went a door down to get some munchies at one of my client's restaurants.

Her ex apparently did not and does not care about her and the children's well being, her sisters are to busy to try for the most part, and her father is literally a cross between a career criminal and a gigilo. So I asked her if she'd like to come by another of my client's dealerships and look for something she needed, the rest is history.

I noticed you used the word relationship, there are very many types of relationships possible. For all I know, somebody sometimes thinks I'm up to some "nefarious creepy ideas..." I had someone call the local police about me talking to a young boy in restaurant, two officers showed up. When it was all over, the owner of the restaurant (my client), the officers and I were laughing about how pitiful whoever had called them must be. I love that whole family, like many others, for crying out loud. And yes, the one who called saw and heard everything that happened. I learned a little about being aware of my surroundings working as a spook in the Navy, hopefully the poor dear troubled person who cannot conceive the idea of people simply liking each other at least has a clue that indeed, it is possible for human beings to simply like each other and get along and not have issues, not need drama, and above all live with dignity. Unprofessional perhaps, but then, families, communities, and the best elements of humanity are far and away superior to so called professionalism in terms of results.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2019 02:57AM by ap7isback.