This was sent in an email by Amazon.

Amazon warns the public of two scams. Scammers may claim there is a fraud investigation and that you must “verify” your account. Or the scammer may claim there is unauthorized or fraudulent activity on your Amazon account. Amazon suggests that you don’t “verify sensitive personal information over the phone.”

In contrast, numerous persons called me and said their name was Joe Blo or Jane Doe and asked me to verify who I was. If pressed what company put them up to the call, they said “Portfolio Recovery Associates.” They asked me to verify my name, birthdate and address or past address, and if I did not answer, refused to tell me what the call was about.

Judge Lee P. Rudofsky gave the opinion that it was reasonable for Portfolio Recovery Associates to demand the person they called to identify themselves and verify sensitive personal information over the phone, on a recorded line. Judge Rudofsky’s gig right before taking his lifetime position on the bench was as counsel to Walmart. Walmart partners with credit card companies that sell questionable debts to Portfolio Recovery Associates.

But Judge Rudofsky doesn’t acknowledge any bias created by that past client relationship. No, he asserts that people who agree with Amazon and don’t want to talk with random callers on the phone are unreasonable.

Will the United States Supreme Court agree with Judge Rudofsky? We may find out, if SCOTUS agrees to grant certiorari after the December conference.