Can somebody explain how this is safe?

[BlancoNino]

You owe a bill to a company. You decide to pay online. You can do it through your checking account. All they ask for is the account number and routing number. Account numbers can easily be stolen or seen and routing numbers go by state and bank so they are available to anyone...and poof! You can pay.

What's to stop somebody from stealing my checking account number and using it? This method seems so unsafe.

 

[radioouman]

Same as a check, right?

 

[Double Trouble]

It is indeed unsafe, and I personally NEVER let any company do any kind of transaction directly on my account. That's what a credit or debit card is for......

 

[leftyman]

Secure website. The threat of prison for an employee that steals that information.

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: radioouman
Same as a check, right?

Except with checks, you have to actually physically steal them. This you just have to glance over or see somebody's account number or bank statement.

I guess I'll just check my account summary and activity every day.

 

[Looney]

To withdraw money from your account to pay them? With account number and routing number, that's usually a deposit or money wire transfer (you to them). For withdrawal, you can do what's called a preauthorization payment, which is like void checking, and requires, the transit/branch number, institution code, and the account number... and you have to have preauthorization privileges (ie a business... you wouldn't be able to do a preauthorize payment just because you have the info).

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Are you talking about automatic bill paying? If so, you have to okay it through your bank or at least through a password protected bank site.

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: leftyman
Secure website. The threat of prison for an employee that steals that information.

I'm not so worried about employees as I am somebody getting a bank statement of mine or something or stealing my checking account number. I mean I understand it's a long shot...but as I was staring at the screen with the company I was signing up to do automatic payments with...I was like "Wow, I could just type in somebody elses checking account number"

Then again, I guess the punishment of theft and how easily it would be to find whoever did it would hopefully discourage anybody from doing it.

For the record, I'm talking about paying off my credit card balance online and the only way to do it is to give them A) Checking account number. B) Bank name. C) Routing number. And voila! I can enter in how much I want to pay through that account. I didn't have to verify anything with my bank or anything...

 

[VTHodge]

If you do it online, it is likely that no person will ever look at it. If you mail a check, one person at a minimum handles it. That check will then get scanned and finalized electronically anyways. By doing it yourself, you are just cutting out the middle man.

 

[FoBoT]

everybody you hand a check to sees your account number and routing number

how is this any different?

 

[ryan256]

HTTPS://


</thread>

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
everybody you hand a check to sees your account number and routing number

how is this any different?

I guess you're right. I guess I"m just paranoid. I suppose with all the protection today, I shouldn't worry about anything so long as I do my best to keep my records safe.

I ask for credit card numbers over the phone while taking orders for pizza delivery (including exp. date) every day I work.

 

[dullard]

Your title doesn't match your OP at all. Thus, you are going to get a lot of replys that have nothing to do with the thread. I see them already.

To answer your post:
I assume banks check the name of the person on the account being paid and compare that to the names authorized to use that checking account. If so, you are pretty safe.

To answer your thread title:
Online checking is safe because fewer people handle your check. Fewer people = less chance of it being intercepted. Heck, even if you do it with a real check, it'll probably be scanned in and sent around electronically anyways. Thus, going online isn't any more dangerous.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
everybody you hand a check to sees your account number and routing number

how is this any different?

Yup

People do realize that you can print out your own checks, right? All you need is the routing number and account number.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
I ask for credit card numbers over the phone while taking orders for pizza delivery (including exp. date) every day I work.

that is a good example, if you decided to ask some of them for the 3 digit security code on the back, i am sure most would just give it to you and not question why

then you could logon to newegg that night after work and score some new toys

<not advocating theft, just an example>

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Bill Me Later uses pay by check, never had any problems to date.

I think anytime you conduct a financial transaction online, you are taking some risk in doing it, even checking your bank account online is a calculated risk. But we gloss over the risk in favor of the convenience. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing only time will tell.

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: dullard
Your title doesn't match your OP at all. Thus, you are going to get a lot of replys that have nothing to do with the thread. I see them already.

To answer your post:
I assume banks check the name of the person on the account being paid and compare that to the names authorized to use that checking account. If so, you are pretty safe.

To answer your thread title:
Online checking is safe because fewer people handle your check. Fewer people = less chance of it being intercepted. Heck, even if you do it with a real check, it'll probably be scanned in and sent around electronically anyways. Thus, going online isn't any more dangerous.

My title was pretty broad, true, but it still is the same thing. Anyway, like I said earlier, I'm just paranoid and wanted to ask. I'm not afraid of anything getting intercepted, I was just dumbfounded about how easy it is to pay a bill with just a simple checking account number (bank name and routing number go hand in hand and are based on which bank company and state, so they are easily accessible on the internet). But as I should have realized, it's no different than having a CC number or anything.

 

[arcas]

It would be nice if the US banking industry would implement a sort of "whitelist" whereby accountholders can specify which entities are allowed to debit an account. I think banks in the UK allow such a thing.

As it stands, if you've ever paid by check, then your account and routing numbers are already "out there". Think about how many people might look at that check after you hand it to the cashier...

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx
Bill Me Later uses pay by check, never had any problems to date.

I think anytime you conduct a financial transaction online, you are taking some risk in doing it, even checking your bank account online is a calculated risk. But we gloss over the risk in favor of the convenience. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing only time will tell.

I think the convenience is making it safer, or at least shortening the time until it is found. Before I used internet banking, I wouldn't know if someone had forged one of my checks until I got the month's statement or the bank sent me overdraft notices. Now I usually check my balances every few days so I would notice an unexpected drop in my account balance quickly.

 

[dartworth]

perhaps you should ask for a tinfoil hat when opening an account...

 

[KB]

The only thing keeping someone from using your routing number/account number on their checks is the honor system and the threat of prison. In fact my parents paid for their medication by check at a pharmacy and the pharmacist used their numbers and an electronic check processing service to pay her water bill. The bank, which did refund their money, did not even go after the women because it would be too much work.

But what can you do. This information is needed for commerce. You can't prevent everybody from seeing your check/credit etc. numbers.

 

[nweaver]

Lets see....I steal an account number and routing number...

I log into powercompany.com and use the electronic check option to pay my bill

you check your bank statement, call the bank, bank calls the power company who is going to give the bank the info about the account that transaction paid on

cops are busting down my door



Online is a bit different, because they have some information about you. Unless folks are randomly guessing passwords/creating accounts for things like utility accounts (most common electronic check I have seen) and paying bills not their own, they will get caught. Same with other things, you gotta ship it somewhere, and that leads to a physical location. Exception to this is pr0n sites, where you don't get a physical delivery....well, you do, but not from the site itself...er, well, you know what I mean

 

[MrBond]

Originally posted by: nweaver
Online is a bit different, because they have some information about you. Unless folks are randomly guessing passwords/creating accounts for things like utility accounts (most common electronic check I have seen) and paying bills not their own, they will get caught. Same with other things, you gotta ship it somewhere, and that leads to a physical location. Exception to this is pr0n sites, where you don't get a physical delivery....well, you do, but not from the site itself...er, well, you know what I mean

From what I saw when Dateline did that "To Catch a Scam Artist" a couple weeks ago, a lot of the scammers are overseas and using American's they've duped into thinking they're running a legit business as a mail drop. The person here in the US then reships the goods to them overseas.

In fact, one of the people Dateline tracked down had been contacted by a fraud investigator saying that the stuff she was getting was ordered with stolen accounts, but the woman doing the remailing simply stopped sending the stuff out and started stockpiling it in her closet. She didn't mention any legal trouble that arose from her remailing the packages.