Banks to be forced to compensate victims of financial fraud under new Government proposals

Thrugelmir

Time to get the chequebooks out again for high value transactions. 

lr1277

Some random thoughts.

I looked up APP based fraud and the first few results were to do with house buyers sending their money to a fraudster's account instead of their solicitors' account.

Do fraudsters set up accounts in the name of legal firms so when the buyer sends their money to the firm, the account name doesn't look incorrect? There was something a few years ago, about banks making it harder to open accounts unless your ID matched the account name. Did this not happen? Or do fraudsters open accounts in their own name and when the money is sent, the receiving account's name is disregarded, either by the bank employee or the sender of the money?

In principle it makes sense to me for banks only to open accounts in the name of the presented ID. And, yes I agree it will make account opening much harder. But mow the risk is with them, they will take steps to minimise their risk/exposure.

I wouldn't have a problem with sending money to solicitors using a cheque. It does mean more admin costs for both the solicitors and the banks. Also banks would need a more efficient way or receiving cheques, perhaps by opening more tills at branches. This is based on hope and not expectation.

At the moment if I have a cheque to deposit, I send it by post to the bank. I suppose the post could be intercepted because if the pay off is large enough, who know what people will do.

I do wonder if High Net Worth (HNW) ndividuals moving money around use cheques or electronic transfers. I would imagine cheques. Mainly because if you use a cheque, the risk is with the receiver. If you use electronic transer the risk is with the sender.