Mood:
lazyTopic: ramblings
I was helping a member (what us in the credit union business call "customers") on the phone today and he asked if he could close his Visa. I informed him of our policy: basically we would need him to either come in and sign a form or mail in a request to have the Visa closed. The basic rule is that we have to have a signature to verify they want it closed, just like we need a signature to verify that they did at one time want the loan.
Which got me to thinking...
I know I wasn't necessarily alive "back in the days"...but I do know that times then were much more innocent. I have no doubt that when my dad was my age I'm sure he could have just made a quick call (or sent a telegram perhaps? lol) to close a signature loan that had been paid off. He could write checks without worrying about a hold being placed on them. He could take a business opportunity from a friend and more than likely it wouldn't be a scam...
But things have changed. Now people have to constantly watch their backs, shred their mail, keep close eyes on their accounts, check their credit reports fairly often, and "tips from friends" are often times critiqued to death. Am we all just getting paranoid? Well perhaps, but for good reason. Times have changed. People aren't as nice and innocent as they used to be (unfortunately). Which means we all have to be extra cautious not to have someone do fraud against us. I've never personally had my identity stolen or fraud on my accounts, but I've dealt with plenty of it to know that it is no fun...
It's just too bad that we'll never be able to go back to those "innocent days"...
