I got my reply back from Vanguard today, and here’s what they said.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Vanguard takes the security of your account very seriously, and we apply
strict security measures before releasing information about a specific
account or processing a purchase, exchange, or sale of shares.
Below, we've described some of our security procedures for each method of
transaction request--online, by phone, or by mail. Regardless of the method
used, we provide a confirmation to account owners once a transaction has
been processed.
Online requests >>
The secure area of our website uses the industry-standard Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) 128-bit encryption for clients who are logged in.
* To be granted online access to an account, the owner must register and
establish a user name and password. To complete the registration process,
he or she must enter information specific to the account. The owner also
sets up security questions to be used--if necessary--to verify identity at
logon and in connection with certain sensitive transactions.
* Our website uses cookies to recognize the registered user's computer. If
the user or someone else attempts to log on with the account owner's user
name and password from a computer not previously used to log on to
vanguard.com, the website will require an additional security check to
verify identity.
* If a request is made online to change the address listed for an account,
we'll limit the ability to request a redemption check online or by phone
for a specified period of time after the address change is made. This
allows time for mailed confirmations of the change to reach both the old
and new addresses so that the account owner can notify us if the change
isn't authorized or the information is incorrect.
* Redemption checks are made payable to the account owner (or owners) only.
Please note:
* Vanguard doesn't maintain a record of website passwords. This means that
anyone who forgets his or her password must correctly answer a security
question to gain online access. If the answer is incorrect, the account
owner must contact Vanguard--and undergo additional security checks--to
regain access.
* The account owner has the option to restrict account access from
unrecognized computers (and therefore have access only from a recognized
computer). You should consider electing this option if you always log on
from recognized computers, have concerns about identity theft, or believe
someone may have access to your logon information. You can activate this
feature online by following these steps:
1. Log on to your account at vanguard.com.
2. From the "My Accounts" dropdown, select "Account maintenance."
3. Under "Security profile," choose "Computer access restrictions."
4. Select "Restrict unrecognized computers from accessing my accounts" and
then "Submit."
You can disable this feature at any time--from the same area of our
website--by answering two of your three web security questions and then
selecting "Allow me to access my accounts from unrecognized or new
computers."
Telephone requests >>
To discuss an account, a caller must provide certain information to
identify himself or herself as the owner, or as someone with documented
authority to act on the account. After successful verification, we'll allow
the caller to obtain information about that account or conduct
transactions.
Account owners also have the option of setting up a verbal password, which
can be established by calling us at the phone number below. Once it's in
place, we'll require the password before discussing the account.
* Assets can be moved between accounts only if the caller is either a
registered owner of both accounts or an individual with documented
authority to act on both.
* Redemption checks will be sent only to the address we have on file for
the account, unless the caller satisfies strict additional security
measures. (If a caller requests that the address listed for the account be
changed, we'll process the change, but we'll limit the ability to request a
redemption check online or by phone for a specified period of time after
the address change is made. This allows time for mailed confirmations of
the change to reach both the old and new addresses so that the account
owner can notify us if the information is incorrect.)
* Redemption checks will be made payable only to the registered owner (or
owners) of the account, unless the caller satisfies strict additional
security measures.
Written requests >>
We'll comply with written requests only if they come from either the
account owner or someone with documented authority to act on the account.
* For written requests involving the transfer or sale of assets, we require
the signatures of all registered account owners.
* For written requests to send redemption checks anywhere other than the
account's listed address, we require signature guarantees for all of the
account owners. The purpose of a signature guarantee is to authenticate a
signature, and it can be obtained from many different types of financial
institutions, including commercial banks, savings banks, credit unions,
trust companies, or member firms of a U.S. stock exchange.
Although we have strong security measures in place for online, phone, and
written transaction requests, we want you to take steps to protect yourself
as well. Please give a careful review to any account-related mailings you
receive from Vanguard. If you see any transactions that appear to be
erroneous, you should contact us immediately so that we can investigate the
situation.
That goes a long way towards easing my mind and increasing my comfort level,, but I still don't understand why they feel the need to put the account number on the check. I sent them another question asking this.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.