I got an email, which I didn't know was spam or not, from TD Ameritrade, where I do have an account telling me my account had been compromised and to call this 800 number. I didn't trust it, but the email looked fairly legit (no spelling or grammar mistakes) so I called the number on the website. As it turned out, someone had tried to log in to my account and so they put a lock on it and I had to reset my user name and password.
This took about 30 minutes including a trip to India where I was transferred. I thought I was almost done when the Indian guy tells me "one more thing" -- and how I needed to have a "secret verbal password" --- I didn't know if he were kidding or not, but he wasn't... so my secret verbal password is for if I telephone TD Ameritrade. So I asked him if there was a secret handshake too and he actually had a sense of humor and invited me to India so he could teach me the secret handshake.
No doubt, in a few years when we look back at these security measures the same way we see 1980s style men's shoe size cell phones... I had never heard of a secret verbal password, but now I have one.
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