jtomp
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posted on January 26, 2003 09:07:45 AM new
Has anyone else had a buyer from Germany ask for a bank account number so that "I can transfer payment directly into your account"?I recently had a bidder ask for this info and when I said no and told him to email me his shipping address so that I could determine his postage - he kind of disappeared. Have not had any response from him in a week. Sounds pretty fishy to me.
Jane
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trai
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posted on January 26, 2003 09:40:45 AM new
anyone else had a buyer from Germany ask for a bank account number so that "I can transfer payment directly into your account"?
This is quite common around the world for payments. They are talking about wire transfers from their bank to yours. This is a one way trip for the payment, they can not go into your account for a withdrawal.
Just check with your bank and ask if there are any fees for this on your end.
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dadofstickboy
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posted on January 26, 2003 09:53:52 AM new
Your checking acct. # is not a top secret thing!
Every check that you write has it printed on the front.
And you can give your savings acct. # to anyone, but all the can do is deposit into that acct.
If you give your #'s out the ONLY thing they can do is deposit!
But: Personally the only # I would give out is checking!
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stopwhining
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posted on January 26, 2003 02:11:35 PM new
your bank will have a fee for accepting wiretranfer,you may want him to pay for it .
altho it is safe to give out bank account and your bank dda to your buyers in foreign land,you may want to exercise caution with countries such as nigeria,russia ,indonesia,etc.
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classicrock000
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posted on January 26, 2003 02:39:18 PM new
I have accounts at two different banks-they both told me I only had to give out the last 4 digits of the account for security reasons.
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stopwhining
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posted on January 26, 2003 03:28:40 PM new
one way to do it if your bank offers no minimum balance,no monthly fee account is to open one just for the purpose of accepting incoming wire,once you receive the fund,move it somewhere else so that account always have a zero balance.
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pointy
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posted on January 26, 2003 03:54:33 PM new
classick.....i'd switch banks....that's the stupidest 'advice" i've heard in awhile. As others have stated you full account number and ABA number is on every check. This is all that a person needs to wire money INTO your account. It in no way provides access for an authorized withdrawal. If you provide just the last 4 digits to someone this will be ofno meaning. The only people the last 4 digits will mean anything to is your own bank people, because they know the other digits.
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stopwhining
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posted on January 26, 2003 05:14:15 PM new
with foreign wire transfer,you must give complete information,best is to ask your bank what is needed.if your bank is a small bank in a small town,it could clear thru some big bank on either coast.in that case you may have more than one bank fee,ask first.
tell him to use paypal or bidpay.
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celebrity8x10s
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posted on January 26, 2003 06:01:34 PM new
While money transfers are safe, it is not always safe to give out your checking account #'s. It is very easy to print up checks on a computer using available software. All you need is the account #'s, personal info, and you have everything you need. No signature is necessary to cash these checks as well.
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jtomp
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posted on January 26, 2003 06:18:53 PM new
Thanks to everyone for the advice. It was very helpful, even though this buyer was asking for my bank account number, not my checking account number. I state in my auctions that I take only money orders, personal checks or Bid Pay and I think I will stick to that. Most of my sales are small and do not warrant any complicated payment methods.
Regards,
Jane
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