Walk through a typical call from start to finish and, at each point, name what the caller did and what the person who answered should have done.
One call from start to finish
A conversation worth taking apart line by line
Here's a typical call, with generic lines: the tactics matter, not the words.
Caller: Hello, this is the bank's fraud department. Please confirm today's loan application.
Marina: What application? I didn't apply for anything.
Caller: Then someone's acting without you. Stay on the line, I'll transfer you to a specialist. Don't call anyone, we're running a check.
Marina: Okay, I'll wait.
Caller: To stop the application, read me the code you're about to get.
Marina: The code isn't coming.
Caller: Must be a glitch. Then read me your card's last digits, and we'll do the rest.
Take one point — the second line. Marina answered, and that was enough: the call followed the caller's plan. There was nothing to answer: an application shows in the bank's app, not on a call. Then each line raises the stakes: waiting on the line, a ban on calling, a request for the code, and when it doesn't come, for anything about the card.
About the code. Here it didn't come, and that's no clue: codes can be late or never come. Code or no code, you don't say it, and it can't tell you whether the call is real.
You'll take apart the rest yourself, then try a call like this live. The goal isn't to out-argue the caller or catch him in a contradiction: you have nothing to prove to anyone. The goal: don't say the code, pull the emergency brake, end the call.
Lesson notes
A conversation worth taking apart line by line
Here's a typical call, with generic lines: the tactics matter, not the words.
Caller: Hello, this is the bank's fraud department. Please confirm today's loan application.
Marina: What application? I didn't apply for anything.
Caller: Then someone's acting without you. Stay on the line, I'll transfer you to a specialist. Don't call anyone, we're running a check.
Marina: Okay, I'll wait.
Caller: To stop the application, read me the code you're about to get.
Marina: The code isn't coming.
Caller: Must be a glitch. Then read me your card's last digits, and we'll do the rest.
Take one point — the second line. Marina answered, and that was enough: the call followed the caller's plan. There was nothing to answer: an application shows in the bank's app, not on a call. Then each line raises the stakes: waiting on the line, a ban on calling, a request for the code, and when it doesn't come, for anything about the card.
About the code. Here it didn't come, and that's no clue: codes can be late or never come. Code or no code, you don't say it, and it can't tell you whether the call is real.
You'll take apart the rest yourself, then try a call like this live. The goal isn't to out-argue the caller or catch him in a contradiction: you have nothing to prove to anyone. The goal: don't say the code, pull the emergency brake, end the call.