I used to tell banks not to do business with customers by cell phones because the possibility of fraud was heightened. As far back as 15 years ago, I had a bank client that was tricked into sending a $20,000 unauthorized wire transfer when confirmation of a fax was obtained by calling a cell phone number that had been provided only by the fraudster. It is much too easy to hide your identity or hide your location when calling on a cell phone. In another scam.

Unfortunately, that advice doesn’t work anymore because there are too many people who do not have a landline. However, vigilance and good procedures can still save a lot of aggravation. Make sure that the cell phone number you call has been in your records longer than since just that morning. When a person claiming to be a customer says, “I’m sorry, it’s an emergency, my mother just died and you must call me by cell phone, here’s the number,” your response should be a polite, but firm, refusal. If necessary, tell the customer to send an employee who you know by the site to come to your branch and verify the cell phone number.