International buyer wants to do direct bank transfer

[madelaine]

In the past we had a really silly situation where a bidder asked for bank details and then set up direct debits on accounts - no-one lost money and the police insisted there was no crime but it took about 40 hours to sort it out so I'm a bit wary of passing bank details out.

I usually use a savings account when UK buyers want to do transfers as they can't set up anything on those.

Are there any risks associated with giving out the IBAN number etc,please?

[lofty100e]

Might this help you, have not used it myself, but others on here have with no problems..https://transferwise.com/?utm_source...FU7MtAodFXsASw

[astral276]

I understand that it is quite common to pay for transactions this way on the continent, less so in the UK.

Barclays has some info on it: http://ask.barclays.co.uk/help/trave...rnational/iban

You are giving people less information than is given on a cheque, plus a cheque has a sample of your signature.

Like you I use a savings account for direct bank transfers within the UK. Nobody, to date, has chosen to make use o the facility.

[cerealmunkee]

as Astral tells us...in the EU, bank transfer is a common way of carrying out online transactions...particularly in Germany. they seem to dislike paypal. At times there can chargers applied to both accounts and its a good idea to check with your Bank to find out if these are levied.

Regarding security...its true, that more information about your account is provided on a cheque.

Of course, as a seller you have the option to decide which payment methods you're willing to accept, and its often overlooked that a buyer can use paypal as a "guest"

[madelaine]

Thank you - it's all pretty much what I thought but the direct debit thing has left me wary. They should not have been able to do it but I had three different ones set up and no-one in either my bank or the institutions (insurance companies) noticed the discrepancies. Why would I be insuring a house in Bristol when I live in Highworth, for example? They should have ASKED and they should have sent documents to my banking address.

I still don't understand what the scumbag was hoping to gain. Surely wasting the time of a total stranger is not enough gratification?

[HaleysComics]

I am sure you have seen this before, but here is what eBid has posted.

5) Most common online auction Fraud scams and ways to spot them.

• Wire Transfers overseas (especially Western Union) - seller insists that you pay by wire transfer and your payment is safe because money will not be released without a password or ID code. This is not true. If they insist on a wire transfer it is almost certainly a scam.
• Will only provide you with a mobile, pager or voice messaging system.
• Landline number is always engaged or "please leave a message".
• Hotmail account or another third-party email address.
• High priced auctioned item from a member with zero feedback.
• Offers to complete the sale before the auction has finished - contact telephone number or email in the text of the auction.
• Requesting your banking details after the auction has closed and then setting up direct debits with your banking information. Always use a payment provider such as PPPay.com to avoid giving your banking information.
• Makes an excuse why they cannot use the Escrow Payment facilities.
• Fraudulent escrow services (what is escrow?) - Ssellers offering to use an escrow company that is not regulated.

If you have any doubt or suspicions contact us before doing anything!

[meebo1]

As has been mentioned: bank transfers are very common across the channel. I have done it lots of times as I still have a bank account over there. What you need to be aware of are bank charges when it involves a different currency. things may have changed since I last used the bank to transfer money into another country or received any, but the last time it cost me.

[cambrensis]

I am sure you have seen this before, but here is what eBid has posted.

5) Most common online auction Fraud scams and ways to spot them.

• Landline number is always engaged or "please leave a message".
• Hotmail account or another third-party email address.
• Requesting your banking details after the auction has closed and then setting up direct debits with your banking information. Always use a payment provider such as PPPay.com to avoid giving your banking information.

If you have any doubt or suspicions contact us before doing anything!

I had not seen this (remiss of me), so I'm glad you posted it.

Several weeks ago I mentioned in a post that when I worked in mail order, several years ago now, I set up a ban on allowing buyers to use Hotmail, etc as valid email addresses; I was jumped on by one of our sellers who apparently uses such an address here! Interesting...I wonder how many sellers here use such accounts.

A few months ago somebody hijacked my feebay account but failed to get into Paypal (different password). The address they had given feebay as their new email address was qwerty123athetc I.had to get quite snappy with the young lady on the 'phone when I insisted she send a link for password change to my correct address and not that one! She could see nothing strange about it!

Another trick we became aware of and took action was having an account tied to the address of a student Hall of Residence. One bright lad in Aberystwyth gave his address as a house name "Neuadd Islwyn" together with post/zip code. If he were not planning a scam he would not have done so. As many will know we have bilingual signing back home and the wall plaque for that address would have read "Neuadd Islwyn Hall" - in other words if reading in Welsh read the first two words and if in English read the last two. (It didn't help the lad that I knew the exact building as I'd had a young relative stay there a few years before). Obviously not everybody in a Hall of Residence is a thief...but it does not follow that if the goods are signed for there it is by the actual buyer or that he will ever see them.

The bank details problem should not occur at all if the bank is doing its job properly; a valid signature is supposed to accompany a DD request. EBACS is, as has been said, common throughout Europe; I've used it there myself with never a problem, so their banks must be totally "with it"; but we are getting used to all sorts of nonsense from our own banks, aren't we? I wonder what the bonus rate for total idiocy is, these days.

[HaleysComics]

Here is some info worth reading.

http://manvsdebt.com/top-16-pieces-o...thieves-crave/

[cambrensis]

Here is some info worth reading.

http://manvsdebt.com/top-16-pieces-o...thieves-crave/

Interesting; worth bearing in mind that here in the UK that your driving licence number is part of your name jumbled with your date of birth anyway!

However, I do get a little worried by pundits who end up using entirely the wrong word (in this case the writer uses "weary" when he means "wary"). It makes me wonder how much care has been taken with the research for the article as a whole.