Insurance Fraud Knows No Gender
(I work in an insurance call center. As a call taker, the first thing I need to do is verify the caller is either the owner or authorized person on the policy. Whilst we do get people attempting to access information fraudulently, most of the time it’s simply an individual who can’t be bothered trying to explain to their elderly, hard-of-hearing relative or non-English-speaking relative that they need to be authorized to speak to us. We cannot outright accuse someone of acting fraudulently, especially if they correctly answer the security questions. It’s frustrating for us, so I developed a way of checking that never fails to result in them hanging up.)
Caller: *clearly very male voice, not elderly* “Yes, my name is [Female Name], [account number], [birth date that would make this person much older than they sound].”
Me: “Thank you for calling, Mrs. [Female Name]. How can I help today?”
(I note that there are no authorized persons on the policy)
Caller: “I need to change my address.”
Me: “I can certainly take care of that for you, Mrs. [Female Name]. While I am making that change for you, may I double-check that I have the correct date of birth for you?”
Caller: “Um… yes… it’s…” *pause, a rustle of paper* “[Birth date].”
Me: “Great, thank you. May I also ask a personal question?”
Caller: *tone slightly uncomfortable* “Yeah, what is it?”
Me: “Do you identify as male, female, or other, Mrs. [Female Name]? We’re able to update that for you with no paperwork. We like to ensure we are using your preferred pronouns.”
Caller: “…” *click*
(Never failed.)