10p "registration fee"

WatlingA5

A member of my family was talked into paying a 10p "registration fee" to a company she was talking to. I've never heard of that before and wonder if it is basically a scam to harvest bank details.

She is at present talking to her bank about whether she should get her card number changed (thankfully, it is NOT the same as the bank account number).

Am I worrying needlessly?

eskbanker

Merely having someone's bank details doesn't necessarily open up the account holder to fraud or other undesirable activity - as usually pointed out in response to that fear, sort codes and account numbers are printed on every cheque.

However, it's possible that she's entered into some sort of contract with this company and/or that by providing card details she's consented to a Continuous Payment Authority, so she needs to check carefully exactly what she's signed up to. Changing her card won't make a difference to the company's ability to seek or accomplish payment so she needs to get to the actual root of what's she's done rather than addressing symptoms....

DCFC79

Who was the company ?

18cc

Agree with eskbanker - the most likely scenario is that she has signed up to some continuous payment where it is 10p to register and then an amount will be taken from the card each month.

she can cancel this either with the company or by telling the card provider.

WatlingA5

Thank you all for the responses. The company sells number plates, and it was interested to know what the costs of a number were over and above the number itself.


Anyway, the bank chap explained that companies that had to provide a service before they were paid, sometimes took a pennies payment just to ensure the account is active. He checked the company and said it was genuine. The small payment makes sense; she admits she may have been told that but couldn't be sure.
If nothing else, we have learned something today, so thanks for the info. :beer:

eskbanker

WatlingA5 wrote: »

The company sells number plates, and it was interested to know what the costs of a number were over and above the number itself.

Do you mean she was interested in finding out costs? The company itself would surely know already....

It still doesn't sound right to me that a company would charge any sort of fee just for sharing a price list, and the information about such costs (physical plates, assignment/registration/transfer fees, etc) is generally already available in the public domain anyway.

WatlingA5 wrote: »

Anyway, the bank chap explained that companies that had to provide a service before they were paid, sometimes took a pennies payment just to ensure the account is active.

That sort of activity isn't unheard of, for validating ID, etc, but would typically be associated with setting up an ongoing credit arrangement or similar, rather than to satisfy a one-off enquiry.

WatlingA5 wrote: »

He checked the company and said it was genuine.

A bank employee can look up Companies House data like the rest of us to see that a company exists, but isn't in a position to take a view on how trustworthy they are, etc, so personally I wouldn't see any such assurance of being genuine as meaningful

WatlingA5 wrote: »

The small payment makes sense; she admits she may have been told that but couldn't be sure.

My earlier comment stands - IMHO she still needs to check exactly what she signed up to and in particular whether she's authorised the company to take further payments.

WatlingA5

Yes, "she" - mental typo

I'll get her to talk to the company to confirm that there will be no further transactions. And I will continue to keep a close eye on the bank accounts - it's in my Scottish blood

Thanks again for your detailed answer.