And what's worse is when utility companies require me to "authenticate" over the phone with my name, address & dob: all publicly (to varying degrees) available information.

My pet peeve is an incoming call with authentification demand (name, dob) before we speak. As if I'm going to tell my personal info to random id, no matter is it publicly available or not. At the same time they easily send me sms with private accounting info.

There are many people who get scammed through such calls. I believe it is up to the technology and technology security savvy people to constantly educate others.

Even today when I speak about info security they look like you're wearing a foil hat. Another scam is people knocking into doors to "deliver useful social information" and asking for your ids/signature in the end. It may be marketing info collection or even simply visual wealth evaluation, but sure there are those who believe it's done for good [edit:] intents.

I'm usually let them tell their tale (out of my room, of course), ask a lot of questions, nod with them happily, and in the end I say thanks, but I'm sorry, I don't disclose my info, full stop. Their butthurt is sometimes too cool to watch without popcorn.

I always hoped those tests were more about a human measuring my reaction speed.

If I am who I say I am I should be able to answer all three without much thinking and answer naturally to my name.