Continued security issues caused by inappropriate policy promoting identity theft within the company. ( First reported XXXX/XXXX/15 ; problem still exists ). On XXXX XXXX, 2015 I called Sears Mastercard because XXXX my card had been declined by Sears even though the account is in good standing. The CSR asked for my " personal password '' and even though I know this is illegal & I addressed this issue back on XXXX XXXX, 2015, I went ahead & complied with the request. I was then advised by the CSR the password I gave was incorrect ( it was not incorrect ) & that I should be giving the name of my first pet. Immediately, I realized Sears had not done anything to address my complaint dated XXXX XXXX, 2015 as they were still practicing a policy which jeopardizes the security of their customers accounts by asking inappropriately for a personal password when what they really want to know is the " Secret Question '' answer. The CSR 's are not asking the questions appropriately. I advised the CSR of this & was told this is the script they are told to go by. Yes, this happened in XXXX 2015 as well. I advised the CSR to please mark the account that I am officially complaining for the second time this year about their policy, because now I complied with their request to reveal my password only to be told that it was not what they wanted to know. What that means is a ) I now have to change my password ; b ) they never fixed the problem ; c ) they are promoting identity theft ; d ) they are not securing my account, but instead are jeopardizing it ; and, e ) Sears is proving it can not be trusted to protect the accounts of its customers. Since this has happened before, this has to be taken seriously, because their Customer Service department is not listening or taking initiative to solve the problem. Therefore, I am taking serious action. If this issue is not resolved I will take this to the media and advocate a large scale investigation of this banking institution for potential fraud against it 's customers. It is very clear to me that Sears does not take security seriously. They might as well stop trying to say that they do, because they are not doing anything to help the situation. As it turns out my account should never have been flagged for potential fraud. They were only harassing me. Ultimately, I am glad it happened, because it allowed me the opportunity to catch them in the act of just how under-protective of my account they are. I can not believe they would ask for a password knowing that a Customer can actually give them the password trusting them to handle the situation appropriately. Then when you give them the password, they reveal they did n't want the password ; they wanted the secret question. Again, this is XXXX totally different things. Unacceptable. Seven months has passed since this was first reported. Nothing has changed. 
