I read this in the paper itself today. Was going to start a thread myself. [I have just
newsified it though]
Utterly stupid thing to do, IMO.
If you call *them*, then fair enough. You have to prove your identity, as otherwise how do they know who you say you are?
But if they cold-call you?! No way! They should
not be asking for this.
I would never give out a password or other sensitive info to a company which had cold-called me. It's simply not safe. How do you know they are who they say they are?