Is it still possible for someone to set up a direct debit from my account with my bank details?

[Deleted User]

As topic. I remembered the Jeremy Clarkson incident, and just wondered if this 'loophole' is still there (after a recent scam call).

ZeroSum

Yes, but you should get a letter through the post to inform you it's been set up

Daliah

You also still have the Direct Debit Guarantee, and if you have online/app banking, you can check 24x7 whether there is any DD you do not recognise, and where you can cancel them immediately.

Also, it is now 13 years since the Clarkson event. How many more such incidents have you heard of since, or in the decades preceding it, when tens of millions of cheques were written, each of which had the sort code and account number printed on it?

To quote from the Direct Debit website: Direct Debits are used by nine in ten UK consumers to pay some or all of their regular bills. More than 4.5 billion Direct Debits were processed in 2019.

Really nothing to worry about.

zagfles

The Jeremy Clarkson incident wasn't a scam or an attempted fraud. It was some idiot who just wanted to prove him wrong when he published his account details to show it's perfectly safe to let others know your account details.

What most of the useless media articles covering the incident failed to mention is that JC would have been able to invoke the DD guarantee for a full and immediate refund from his bank. So setting up a DD on someone else's account is possible, but it's not something that is useful to scammers, because DD originators are vetted, not just anyone can become a DD originator, and customers can demand immediate refunds on any invalid DDs.

RG2015

Daliah said:

You also still have the Direct Debit Guarantee, and if you have online/app banking, you can check 24x7 whether there is any DD you do not recognise, and where you can cancel them immediately.

I agree that it is not really something to worry about but NatWest does not show DDs until the first payment has been made.

I have DDs that I have set up that do not appear on my list of DDs. Customer Services are able to confirm that mandates are set up but that I cannot see them until claimed.

dunstonh

Anyone can set up a direct debit from your account.   That is not at all difficult.  However, direct debit originators are generally trusted companies that have agreed to standards.   It is also why you get at least 10 days notice of a direct debit to be taken and the guarantee scheme that exists.

It is also unclear whether Clarkson's incident was actually a direct debit or a bank transfer or standing order.  Sometimes people mix the names up for the various methods.  The DD guarantee scheme existed back then and the British Diabetic Association would have just refunded as required if they were the recipient.   A scammer has little to gain by using the d/d system to obtain funds.

eskbanker

dunstonh said:

It is also unclear whether Clarkson's incident was actually a direct debit or a bank transfer or standing order.

Surely it could only have been a direct debit - how could anyone set up an outbound bank transfer or standing order armed only with his divulged sort code and account number details?

dunstonh said:

The DD guarantee scheme existed back then and the British Diabetic Association would have just refunded as required if they were the recipient.

Yes, my recollection of the story is that he knew he could have reclaimed the money but chose not to.

dunstonh said:
A scammer has little to gain by using the d/d system to obtain funds.

Indeed - again from memory, I think the perpetrator in the Clarkson case was simply doing it to prove a point rather than any attempted personal gain.

Daliah

The media reported that the Clarkson DD was for £500 to a Diabetes charity. He could have invoked the DD guarantee but thought better as the money was for a good cause, and it hardly left him destitute

[Deleted User]

I just realised, my bank sends me an OTP for some things (transactions) would something of this nature not be one of them?

[Deleted User]

Hi

would think bank will only send you an OTP if you have originated a transaction, it's usually seconds later and is only 'live' for a few minutes.