Bank On This!

You know what? I wish there was a general bank account number that the Feds watched. Then, if you were ever asked for a bank account and you knew it was a scam, you could give them that. And the Feds would nab them. Ha, serves those scammers right.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's true! But, that's just the thing...to know that it's a scam. That's why everything I buy online or have automatically withdrawn, I use a credit card (as opposed to a CheckCard). My dad gave me this advice, actually. If you use a credit card, you can dispute the charges and the money is returned - you don't have to pay for it. But, if you use your CheckCard, it's YOUR money that's taken away. YIKES!

Ben said...

I almost never buy from a no-name company, and I never use my check card anyhow. I like having 21-day grace period on my expenses so that I can collect that extra $0.01 in interest. But mostly, it's to gather the "up to 2% cashback" on my AmEx.

And never EVER pay by Western Union, even if they tell you that you can still withhold the funds if it's in someone else's name, or whatever. Once you send it, it's gone.

Western Union: voted "Most Popular Payment Method" by Scammers. (No, not really, but they may as well be.)

Still, I think a scammer account would be neat to have.

One day, I'll post my long-winded correspondence with a scammer in Belgium who wanted to ship me a Powerbook without photos or any indication that they actually had one to send to me. And how they insisted on Western Union, almost desperately so. Funny stuff, worth a good laugh.

Anonymous said...

nice suggestion! a real genius at work (at work). What makes you think a scammer wouldn't know what the general account number is? Oh wait, that's right, there's a general account number for every account out there. I guess the feds can watch those accounts instead of real accounts and their work load would ... remain the same?

Cindy said...

What is a check card?? Is it a Debit Card that take out money right away from the account?

Ben said...

Well, the main issue is not necessarily making the Feds' jobs easier; it's to easily identify fraudulent activity. I suppose in the end, it is easier, because the Feds just watch these accounts that they know will only be activated when scamming is taking place. Rather than having to sift through all possible accounts with all possible transactions and trying to see which ones are right, and which are not, this is probably simpler. In any case, it was a stupid idea, because scammers want to have access to your actual account, and their intent it so masquerade your money-changing-hands as authentic, so these extra accounts would never get used anyhow.

Just a brain fart.

Momcy, a "check card" is what we know as "debit cards". It's basically your Interac (brand) card, which directly debits the funds from your bank account. In the USA, it's known as a "check card", presumably because it's a card that essentially does the same thing as a check/cheque (minus the delay in transaction time for posting the cheque).

Damn, I almost sound half intelligent. How'd THAT happen??

Cindy said...

Okee dokee! :) Professor Ben