posted on September 11, 2000 12:07:21 AM new
Hi all, I need your advice on this situation, this auction has an international buyer that dosen't have a credit card and can't use BidPay to pay for the auction as it was indicated in the auction, and he sent me this e-mail requesting my bank info. to do a money transfer, I am not sure if I should give this info. out or not and really want to just cancel the whole transaction rather than giving out this info. to a complete stranger, I need advice from anyone who came across this situation before, THANKS TO ALL.
"Sir I DONT HAVE ACRIDET CARD so I well take all the responsibility to send the money to you by bank and it will reach you safelly
Please send me the bank account No and the name of the bank as well as the state and branch NO"
posted on September 11, 2000 12:23:38 AM new
there was a thread on this exact same topic not long ago in the Ebay outlook. The conclusion there seemed to have been that wire transfers are a very common, if not the most common, form of payment in Europe. According to people who posted to that thread it is pretty safe, but a pitfall to beware of is that your bank may charge fees. If so, make sure the buyer agrees to pay the fees. Please look up that thread for more specific details.
I can't verify any of this info from personal experience; I usually ask my international customers for an international postal money order, or cash.
posted on September 11, 2000 12:29:48 AM new
Call your bank to see if they charge YOU fees for accepting a money transfer from a foreign bank, and ask their advice about the safety of giving someone your account info.
I've never come across this from my foreign buyers--they either use a CC (BidPay or I-Escrow) or send me an international money order or cash.
posted on September 11, 2000 10:12:12 AM new
I have had money transfers from Japan with no problems!
granee is exactly right though! There are normally transaction fees involved! If you choose that method make sure your buyer is willing to pick up those fees!
I have had some folks send cash insured or just regular mail there own risk and suggestion!
posted on September 12, 2000 08:07:30 AM new
I was also nervous the first time this happened but then I learned that this is pretty common in other countries. My bank charged me $10 for a $350 transfer.
posted on September 12, 2000 02:14:05 PM new
I would never give out my bank info to anyone without checking with my bank that this is the proper procedure. Because this is common in other countries makes you a perfect set-up for a scam.
posted on September 12, 2000 04:47:38 PM new
Helnjoe: If you have ever written a check or ever deposited a check, you have given someone else your bank account. It is printed on every check you write and every check you deposit. The only thing someone else can do with your bank account is deposit money into it. Despite all the paranoid messages on this forum, I have given my bank account number to lots of people and I have yet to find some hacker putting money into my account against my will.
posted on September 12, 2000 05:19:54 PM new
giveing out your checking account # is perfectly normal it the only way direct deposits and electronic traanfers can happen.
and it safe just cause some one has the account number dont mean they can get money when you write checks all the time the account number is on every check its not the same as a credit card number or debit card number.
problem with this is some banks charge as much as $20 for eletronic transfers check with your bank and charge the one makeing it accordingly the cost can be the same as or more then if you bounce a check for this transfer.
posted on September 12, 2000 06:21:54 PM new
yisgood:
You are so wrong. Maybe I sound paranoid because I have been a victim of a scam just like this. I don't know how he did it and the bank couldn't or wouldn't explain how it happened. To make it brief, funds were forwared to my account and within a week my account was cleaned out by this person. The bank made good on it but it is a big shock when something like this can happen.
If you go back to read my post, I did not say don't do it, just make sure that the procedure was correct.
Having been in my own business for many years, I can not tell you how many scams are being worked on a daily basis. I know because I got repeated phone calls and letters working every scam under the sun that you could ever think of and some that you wouldn't in a hundred years.
posted on September 12, 2000 06:35:50 PM new
helnjoe: I have been in business for 20 years, so we can probably teach each other a few things about scams. What was I wrong about? I stated that anyone to whom you write a check has your bank account number. That's a fact. If your bank was stupid enough to give your money to someone else, that was THEIR mistake. In the end, they had to make good on it. If merely giving your bank account number to someone entitles them to empty your account, you would never be able to write or deposit a check without fear.
My bank explained to me that the only way to give someone permission to access your account is with written permission, usually accompanied by a voided check. Anything else (and this includes checking the "X" on paypal's website) can be challenged and you can stop the payment just like you can stop a check you actually wrote.
Just the other day, I received a spam email from someone I never heard of. It said "please give me your credit card number and expiration date. I need it." I answered, "please send me ten thousand dollars. I need it." But I wonder if people out there did fall victim to this.
I have read lots of posts here about people who got ripped off, and as badly as I feel for them, in most cases they were simply careless. People should be more careful but there is also such a thing as going to extremes.
posted on September 12, 2000 06:57:37 PM new
yisgood:
I wish I could tell you how this happened but it did. I know the bank screwed up somewhere and did not want to admit it. They were only too quick to put the funds back in my account. I was too naive at that time to make the fuss that I should have. I was grateful to get my money back. By the way, the bank closed down in about a year after that. But the point is that strange things do happen.
Some of the phone calls I get sound so logical and are so perfectly set up that I'm doumbfounded by the cleverness of them.
But anyway, what was the tag line on "Hill Stree Blues"? something, something..."be careful out there." Am I giving my age away?
[ edited by helnjoe on Sep 12, 2000 06:59 PM ]
