Cashing in Prize Bonds

theresa1 said:

Maybe with all the scams going around they are being over vigilant.

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If they really are calling people like this then it's just increasing the risks of people being scammed!

Hello,

This is rediculous, albeit my own experiences with the Prize Bond Company have been equally rediculous.

No one should ever be giving out their personal details, when they receive a call from an unknown number - no matter who the person calling claims to be.

Simply ask for the person's name and the department that they work in, and tell them you'll call them back, via the company's main telephone number (don't ask them for it, for fear that it's a scam, search for it online, it's easily found).

Its just daft.
I'm sure many people are wary of answering calls from unknown numbers. I don't get how they cannot understand this .

We've received letters asking to verify our address - when the letter was actually sent to that very same address !!

Absolutely ridiculous. Their grasp of security and fraud prevention is diabolically poor.

Last year I used the online system to cash in a number of Savings Certs, Solidarity Bonds and Prize Bonds. I received the following e-mail in respect of two of the requests:

Dear XXX,

Thank you for your recent repayment request.

In order to progress your request, we require you to provide us with the following:
Proof of Name documentation (Photographic ID - which must display date of birth) e.g. Current Passport or EU Driving Licence
A copy of Marriage Certificate is also required if documentation is in maiden name.
Please provide the required documentation by replying to this email and attaching a digital copy of your documentation; either a scanned copy of the document or a photo taken with your mobile phone is acceptable.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to call the State Savings Team on 0818 20 50 60 (or 01 705 7200).

Yours sincerely

State Savings

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I phoned them and said there was no way in hell I was sending Passport, EU Driving Licence and Marriage Certificate by unsecure e-mail. I asked if there was a secure upload facility and the guy said yes so I asked for details "well you scan the document and securely upload it to an e-mail and send it to us". Told him to seek help and he promised a call back. Between this and the other requests I think I had approx 6 calls to verbally verify my request where they just launched into a series of identification questions. In each case I did as a previous poster suggested and asked for a name, terminated the call and called back on the published public number.

It's an appalling practice for the reasons stated by previous posters and they really need to be called out on it.

Yes I also had to e-mail in a copy of my Driving Licence for one bond maturity request. State Savings need to have a re-think.

I called them after 'seven working days' to see about progress and to hurry up if need be. They promised to red flag it and the matter was processed later that day. I was told that one of us would receive a phone call and this happened. The funds arrived on time even tho the bank might have delayed lodging by up to 3 days.

Not much better trying to cash interest cheques.

I withdrew what was in an old AnPost savings account and closed it. A few weeks later they sent me an interest warrant for 70 cent. Being a warrant rather than a cheque, I don’t know if a bank would take it but if they did it would cost 30 cent to lodge it.

Next time I went to the post office for a stamp I handed in 70 cent and the 70 cent cheque, yeah you guessed it, the teller said I know this is ridiculous but I need to see ID to cash that .