Bank transfer is it safe?

[Rossi1986]

Hi all need to send some1 a deposit they are asking for it via bank transfer but ive never done it as didnt think it was that safe?
any info would be great

[R.E.C.S]

its safe if the person its being sent to is reliable.
90% of my customers pay with bank transfer as its quick.

cheques are a tiny bit safer, as they can be cancelled and reversed upto 3 months after clearing. if you dont recieve your goods of course.

[Rossi1986]

Hi what do you mean if the other person is reliable? thanks

[Caz]

Do you know the other person, have they got a shop, do you have their address and a land line home phone number that you have phoned, how much do you really know about them, is the deal too good to be true..? etc etc.

Bank transfers are often used by scammers as they are non refundable and your bank will not reverse the transaction should the seller not send you your goods.

[K.J.Geckos]

i have used it myself but prefer to go through paypal myself.

[tigerpaws]

having worked in a bank i would say first of all that you can no longer have cheques reversed . . .so a cheque is not safe, plus if you send a cheque it has YOUR SORTCODE AND ACCOUNT NUMBER on the bottom, so this is not the safest option.

Bank transfers if they bank with a major bank is safe because the other party will not be able to get access to any of your details, the only reason paypal is a good idea is so you do not have to give your own bank details out, but if a third party is happy to give you their banking details then a bank transfer is fine.

[Caz]

Originally Posted by tigerpaws

having worked in a bank i would say first of all that you can no longer have cheques reversed . . .so a cheque is not safe, plus if you send a cheque it has YOUR SORTCODE AND ACCOUNT NUMBER on the bottom, so this is not the safest option.

Bank transfers if they bank with a major bank is safe because the other party will not be able to get access to any of your details, the only reason paypal is a good idea is so you do not have to give your own bank details out, but if a third party is happy to give you their banking details then a bank transfer is fine.

They're not 'safe' and they are frequently used by scammers who have opened a false bank account, withdraw the cash and are never seen again. Even if they use their own account the ££ can't be reversed. Also this method means no address has to be given by the seller.

[swede.speed]

I would go with paypal.......

[wozza_t]

but with paypal, you can only get your money back if it is still in there account, which if they where out to scam, it would be gone the same day it is deposited.

Cash on collection, or transfer is the only way forward i think. With bank transfers, just make sure you have spoken to them numerous time on a landline (incase they give you a ring from one and it turns out to be a payphone!, its happened to me!), have there home address and if possible/or different the address of where the reptiles are (i.e shop)

[Meko]

Originally Posted by tigerpaws

having worked in a bank i would say first of all that you can no longer have cheques reversed . . .so a cheque is not safe, plus if you send a cheque it has YOUR SORTCODE AND ACCOUNT NUMBER on the bottom, so this is not the safest option.

why isn't it the safest option? what exactly can a scammer so with your account number and sort code? they can't withdraw money as they won't know any personal details about the person to verify who they are.
If cheques were so dodgy then banks wouldn't issue them as you'd be potentially giving anybody you give a cheque to the opportunity to take money from your account legally.

Plus the sort code is only unique to a branch, if you know somebody's account number and who they bank with it's easy enough to have a rough guess at their sort code from where they live - ie their local branch will have the same sort code for all customers.