Should I disclose my account number?

TophamHatt

I have sold an item on e-bay.

The buyer wants to pay me by direct transfer into my bank.

Is there any risk giving him my account number?

buglawton

Check that the buyer has proper UK contact details, ideally call them on a a landline. Indeed there is a scam going round which requires acquiring bank details.

jcr16

i personally wouldn't do it. i only accept paypal.

why not ask them to pay u either by paypal , cheque or postal order.

innovate

Your bank account number is on every cheque you write, it's prefectly save to give somebody your bank account number and sort code.

Check out the eBay thread, there are several postings about it.

You can also check the eBay payment forum on this matter.

Bank transfers are going to become more and more common, and they are free of charge.

HGLTsuperstar

Absolutely, bank transfer is actually better for seller than buyer: you can see when the money has cleared (so wait till then before shipping) and no worry about stupid paypal chargebacks. All they need is ac no and sort code, so as said, same as on a cheque

buglawton

Here is one link to a recent Direct Debit scam - I would blame the banks for requiring no more info to set up a DD than can by obtained by asking to make a payment into your account.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=394881&in_page_id=2

innovate

If you read the (October 2004) article in full, it says at the end

The Association of Payment Clearing Services said this type of fraud was not common but warned bank account holders to check their statements.

HSBC said: 'Customers are protected against direct debit fraud by the direct debit guarantee, but they should always check their statements for any unusual payments.'

Nothing in life is ever 100% safe but bank transfers are massively safer than Paypal, considering the many thousands of Paypal scams