Virginia discovered her Netflix DVDs stopped flowing because Wells Fargo disabled her credit card, apparently without notifying her. When she called to see what was up, she got an opportunistic upsell. The bank rep told her the account was closed because it had been “compromised” then offered her a $12-a-month protection plan to quell future compromising.

She writes:

So I called Wells Fargo and they said they had to cancel my card because my data was “compromised.” They said that I should have received a letter telling me this. (I have not.) They said that they meant to have sent out the cards before they canceled my card, but they are so sorry that the cards were mailed late (today.) They hope I will get my card in a few days.

Then, this is the most amazing thing — they said that they are offering a data security service and they transferred me to a very inexperienced sales person. For $12 a month I can get data security.

Yes, they said my security was compromised and they wanted to sell me a service to make me feel more secure.

I think the word for this is extortion? It is sort of funny, but sort of terrifying.

For my money the best way to keep your account secure is to check it daily for suspicious activity, not pay for some silly service.

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