Fraud question

[curtis troxel]

A question:

My brother is trying to sell a car on the interent
and has found a buyer in Canada. The buyer wants his bank account info so that money can wired directly. I read something at some point where there was some issues of fraud or something funny with doing this. Anyone know of anything????

Thank you....

See you guys at the wine tour...

Curtis

[Ron61]

Curtis,

I am not an attorney and others can tell you what to do and how to do it, but I would not give anyone my bank account information any more than I would my credit card number. There are other ways to wire money. Western Union for one. And if that won't work, then he could set up a new account just for this and once the money is in it close that account and put the money in his regular account.

Ron

[Mulv]

Curtis
The wire transfer thing is common in Canada, however you generally do not need someone's actual account number to do this. I think this is probably ok, but have your brother call his bank and alert them that the money is coming in his name and not his account. Then the money could be sent to his transit number. Failing that, FedEx does overnight letters from Canada and he could send a US dollar bank draft. Your purchaser could use paypal as well which is way easier for everybody. Tell your brother to set up an account and then the buyer can transfer to there. Accessing the funds is a snap. I would not send my account number to someone I did not know....That's what I would do, eh?

Mulv

[snake oil]

There have been a lot of scams going on
BEWARE.... I would not give anyone my bank account #'s .
That's inviting trouble!!!
IMHO

[Bannon]

Well,

Fighting fraud is what I do for a living and I am very leary of giving out my personal information to anyone. I will say this though. You are giving out your bank account number everytime you write someone a personal check, Its right there on the bottom. How often are you doing that per week?...

JB

[ChrisH]

Bannon is correct. However, if you are worried about the alleged buyer emptying your brother's account, a phone call to the bank would not hurt to find out what their policy is on electronic funds transfers.

[curtis troxel]

Thanks for the info all. I will pass on the info to my brother.

Curtis

[SCOBRAC]

just say no..

[BANDIT 1]

Mr. Bannon said it all, you give out your bank routing number and account number everytime you write a check. I would simply go to my bank and ask what the procedure is for someone to wire funds to my account. They will tell you the pro's and con's.

[Dan Semko]

Here's how I've done wire transfers in the past. Have your buyer provide the name of his banker and the phone number. Call his banker and tell him directly what your banks ATA number is. This number can easily be obtained by calling your banker. Tell him to transfer the funds to the smallest account you currently have open then call your banker immediately and advise him that a wire transfer from buyers bank are being sent to your account.
Anyone trying to reverse the transaction will cause alarm and the transaction will be terminated immediately. The important aspect here is for you to talk directly to the buyers bank as well as with your own.
It will be a smooth and quick ransaction.
P.S. Remember the exchange rates when closing the deal and BE SURE to specify the sale is in US currency to your buyer!

[klayfish]

I fight fraud for a living too, and I'd be concerned about it. Yes, I give my account number out when I write a check, but I'd be more concerned about giving the account number on the phone to someone I don't know (usually I only write checks to banks, etc...).

There is, or at least used to be, a service called escrow.com. I think that is what it was. I used them a few years ago when I sold my '80 Corvette. They charge a small fee (which can be paid either by the buyer or seller). But they will take the money from the buyer and hold it. The seller then sends the merchandise. The buyer has 48 hours from receipt to accept or reject it. If he accepts it, the money is given to the seller. If he rejects it, the buyer must send it back, at his cost, in the condition it was sent in. As a failsafe, if the buyer just never responds, the money is automatically released to the seller. It worked great and gave me piece of mind.

Steve

[trularin]

Tell your brother he should consider a cashiers check in US Dollars.

[ac andy]

Paypal works very well. i havent had any troubles with it and I get stuff from the states off e-bay every week.

Andy.

[coosawjack]

Open a new account for this transaction only!!!

After successful transfer....Close It!!

Jack