Asked to pay for course via bank transfer.

Adamc

I'm attending a practical course by a medical doctor who sent me payment details for their bank account - should I be concerned or is there any way I can protect myself? 

Many thanks 

MikeJXE

Unless it’s a guy known to you personally and you feel safe with him

I wouldn’t do a bank transfer no matter how many letters after his name he has 

Pay by credit card only 

Eyeful

Yes you should be concerned. Far too many scams occur using this technique. 
If the account details came in a letter, they could still be the account details of a scammer.
Email is the electronic equivalent of a post card.
Even if you know & trust the doctor an Email address can easily be spoofed. So it may have come from a scammer.

Always pay by credit card where ever possible.

sausage_time

If you really trust the payee, Confirmation of Payee (COP) should verify that the bank details are genuine and have not been intercepted.

itsthelittlethings

What is the course? That’s the bit that sounds a bit dodgy. I have paid people for stuff using bank transfer when it was smallish amounts, for instance I paid for a knitting class and materials which was about £50. Obviously you have no comeback if you don’t get the item. 

I don’t think they can get more money from you than you originally paid and scam you that way. But it depends on how trustworthy the person is and how much money it is. The fact that you’re asking isn’t a great sign.

General_Grant

Adamc said:

I'm attending a practical course by a medical doctor who sent me payment details for their bank account - should I be concerned or is there any way I can protect myself? 

Many thanks 

As itsthelittlethings asked - what is the course?
Have you actually begun attending?  Is it online or in person?
How do you know the person is qualified to teach the topic?

M25

If you've satisfied yourself it's genuine then a bank transfer is reasonable.

It sounds like you have to give more information though.

I'm sure you can check they're a registered medical doctor if the person is registered but they may not be registered in the UK and still be a medical 'doctor' of some type but not practising. You can also do other due diligence like Google them and their services. Doctors can be scammers too no shortage of idiots who can be parted with their money.

Trust nobody online, obviously.

SiliconChip

If the doctor is running the course as an individual then it's very unlikely that they will be in a position to take card payments. I'd suggest that you ask if you can pay a small deposit by transfer to secure your place on the course, then once the training starts and you have confirmed that all is genuine you pay the balance with another transfer.

Ergates

Eyeful said:

Yes you should be concerned. Far too many scams occur using this technique. 
If the account details came in a letter, they could still be the account details of a scammer.
Email is the electronic equivalent of a post card.
Even if you know & trust the doctor an Email address can easily be spoofed. So it may have come from a scammer.

Always pay by credit card where ever possible.

An email with bank details coming from someone you're *expecting* a bill from, where the bank account details match the expected payee is very very unlikely to be a scam.

Ergates

Adamc said:

I'm attending a practical course by a medical doctor who sent me payment details for their bank account - should I be concerned or is there any way I can protect myself? 

Many thanks 

Protect yourself from what?

Paying someone by bank transfer is a perfectly normal and safe method of payment and there is nothing suspicious about people asking for payment in this manner (it is quick and convenient).  The thing to confirm is that the payee details match the name you have for the person (your bank's systems will ask for these details and confirm them when you sent up the payment).

Bear in mind however, that paying by transfer does not have any built in protection for a failure to provide the service.  I.e. if you pay the person for this course, and then they don't deliver it, or it's not as described, you'll have fewer options for recovery of the funds.

However, if they're not set up as a business (e.g. if this is a one-off thing they're doing) then they probably can't take a card payment, so that isn't an option.

Eyeful

Ergates said:

Eyeful said:

Yes you should be concerned. Far too many scams occur using this technique. 
If the account details came in a letter, they could still be the account details of a scammer.
Email is the electronic equivalent of a post card.
Even if you know & trust the doctor an Email address can easily be spoofed. So it may have come from a scammer.

Always pay by credit card where ever possible.

An email with bank details coming from someone you're *expecting* a bill from, where the bank account details match the expected payee is very very unlikely to be a scam.

The only time time I would think it was very very unlikely to be a scam would be if I know & trust that person, they hand over their bank details to me directly & the details are confirmed by cop.

If the details came via email and I was expecting it, the minimum I would do is call them and have them quote their bank details to me directly & confirmed by cop.