Account number and sort code?

peanuts92

Hi,

I just wanted to ask a quick question. Basically, i am due a refund for some tickets i purchased for a conference which got cancelled. I originally paid for this through Paypal, however upon contacting them (BPSA) they have said that they have moved their funds from their Paypal account into their bank account. They have asked me to provide them with my account number and sort code so they can make a direct transfer into my bank account for the refund. I am just a little wary of providing them with my bank account details...this was through email as well, but i did email them first and they replied back and it is the BPSA itself so i am thinking it is genuine and i should be ok....
Am i just being a bit too suspicious or should i be concerned with giving them these details? Whats the worst they could they do?

Thanks for any help

iluvsaving

Not a lot. If you look at your card it shows your sort code and account number on there, that is not exactly a secret place!

McKneff

Ask them to send you a cheque.

SnowTiger

peanuts92 wrote: »

Am i just being a bit too suspicious or should i be concerned with giving them these details? Whats the worst they could they do

Sort code and account number aren't much of a secret. They're printed on every cheque we sent, but many people don't realise that because they don't use one.

What's the worse that could happen? Ask Jeremy Clarkson. Perhaps he decided not to seek a refund because the money ended up with a charity.

innovate

People have been giving out their sort code and account number since the year dot - - both these have been printed on cheques always.

There is absolutely no risk giving anyone your sort code and bank account number - - if you want them to pay any money into your account, they must have these numbers or they can't pay you.

Of course, if you also give the same people your address, your DOB, your passport, your DL, copies of your utility bills, your passwords for your email and bank accounts, your credit card number, expiry date, last 3 numbers on the back etc etc etc then don't complain about ID fraud.

Giving sort code and account number to someone is as safe as giving someone your name.

pcombo

Well just send them savings account details, they cant setup direct debts on that.

peanuts92

Thanks for your help guys!

thenudeone

innovate wrote: »

Giving sort code and account number to someone is as safe as giving someone your name.

As has already been quoted re: Jeremy Clarkson, whilst this might be technically and legally true, it is possible for someone to cause you a great deal of inconvenience by setting up direct debits on your account and leaving you penniless at least in the short term.

Obviously any fraudulent / incorrect DDs will eventually be reversed but as can be seen from posts on here, banks are sometimes unwilling to reverse them immediately, thus potentially leaving you stranded at the cashpoint.

So whilst I wouldn't hesitate to give my bank details to a friend or a company who needed to pay me some money, I wouldn't publish them in the paper like Jeremy did!

innovate

OK, who apart from Jeremy Clarkson ever had fraudulent direct debits set up in their names?

MoneySaverLog

To be fair JC was asking for it by his challenge in giving those details out

Lith

iluvsaving wrote: »

Not a lot. If you look at your card it shows your sort code and account number on there, that is not exactly a secret place!

Most card's don't have that tho,

santander/rbs for example they just show the sort code.