Hi, I opened a IRRA account with Merrill Lynch XXXX when I changed over jobs 3 years ago and moved my then XXXX into the IRRA account. At the time of set up I set up my wife as the beneficiary to the account. I recieved verification of my account in a portfolio summary after the account was established. 
Today, I recevied notificaiton that another account I have with Merrill XXXX was charged a fee that it should not have been so I called to have it removed. At that time the agent informed me that he had to do an account review with me and asked me to verify my beneficiary. I told him who it should be ( I actually named my wife and children not remembering I only set up my wife ) and he informed me that a different person was listed. The name he provided was someone who I did not know nor did I ever list them as my beneficiary. I informed him of this and was transferred to another associate to help me set up my beneficiary ( which I already had upon account set up ). 
After talking with the new assoicate I was told my account was now enabled to view the Beneficiary information online and he would email me the beneificary form. I said that was fine but now I was very concerned that my account was hacked or how this new person got listed as my beneficiary. After further pushing on my part he said it would be researched and I would be called back. 
After a few minutes someone called me back and said that someone else 's beneficiary was placed on my account by accident. The account number was similar to mine and was keyed in incorrectly. I told this associate that this was not acceptable and that I needed to speak with a Supervisor or Manager. A Supervisor came on ( XXXX ) and again explained the error. I explained that I understood an error happened but there needs to be some type of security step to ensure this is either verified by another assoicated at the time of input and verified by the customer after such an important account change. He said a verification would have been mailed out but I never received one. 

This random person was set up as my beneficiary since 2012 with no way for me to see it or verify it online. If I were to pass away they would have received the funds that I put aside for my family 's protection. 
After the conversations I have the following concerns : 1 ) How is Merrill Lynch sure this has not happened on other customer accounts? 
2 ) Why is n't the ability to view my beneficiary info a base option in their website and why do I have to request special access to see it? 
3 ) What is Merrill Lynch doing to ensure this does not happen again to me next week if this same customer mails in another update. 
4 ) In a day of rampant account fraud why did I have to push the call center agents for this to be investigated when it was learned an error occurred? I was deeply concerned with the casual nature this error was addressed. It may be a drop in the bucket for Merrill Lynch, but for me it is my family 's future. When I spoke to XXXX he seemed to get it and picked it up but it was only after I was upset and pushed. It should be an automatic inveistagtion and account review completed as soon as something like this is reported.