[Feen]

I was the subject of an attempted fraud, which I'll tell you about. However, it raises some questions about collecting. Someone wrote a cheque signed by "me" for £15k. There was insufficient funds to honour this (£22 in the account). They appear to have got hold of a cheque book not yet sent to me ( the cheque number is about 50 ahead of the last one in my current book) or have forged a cheque and then forged my signature. No money lost, police involved etc. However the police say that to put a note through someone's door with my sort code and account number on is dangerous as I don't know who will actually see it. I put notes through saying I have been etc and leave an SAE, but also have those bank details on the line which a few people use. I would argue that my sort code and account number give very little away to a potential fraudster. When I receive a cheque, I have the name of the bank, the name of the account holder, their account number and signature in front of me. Surely, that's much more risky than what I'm doing? I will add that the account I use for work (i.e. details on my line) was not the one attacked. What are your views on this type of collecting and what do you do?

[Mr H]

My business manager even recommended me putting my bank details on my website. Nothing to worry about he said..... They need a lot more io than just that to take money out of my account and if anyone is stupid enough to let goods go before a cheque is actually cleared or to deliver to anyting but the account address then they are asking for trouble.
As already mentioned they can get all that info from just any cheque you actually write out or from ny DD you have filled in or old statement you have thrown away. You can even "quess" many accounts from your own bank account. You already have the sort code and starting point for the account number.

Regards
Mr H

[Niall McAllister]

the thing with this business, is that it is built on trust. the cust looks at you and thinks "do i trust you to be alone on my property?", and you think " how much trouble will you be as a customer?".

i wouldn't put my details on my website, and it wouldn't be like I'm handing them out willie nillie, just to customers.
One way you could work round it is by making the first two payments cash, then  giving details for online payments. I think if someone is willing to wait three months for their sting, they deserve something 

[AuRavelling79]

So how did they get a cheque book not yet sent to you? That's the key.

Is the postie bent? Did he simply miss deliver it and some scrote took the opportunity to try it on?

If it's a forged cheque then that has to have some skill attached to it - and anyone possessing that skill isn't gonna be dumb enough to try it on for 15K. Even if I had a million in cash I wouldn't keep 15K in my current account.

Is it anything to do with people on your window cleaning round anyway?

[Feen]

Almost certainly nothing to do with customers, but it made me think about security generally. That's why I raised the subject of putting bank details on my slips.

[Niall McAllister]

you could put it down as an option and when they contact you, you know who you are giving them to

[matt]

i wouldnt list them on a website, i have them on my invoices for commercial clients, domestic just get a web link with paypal and nochex payment options

[dai]

I give my details to any customers that ask to pay this way, at the moment only 4 customers pay direct.
I have spoken to customers and they sound really enthusiastic about it, I ask them to email me for my bank details, so far not a single one has done this. Why? Well you tell me.
Strategy for the new year is that I will ask for their email address, I will then send them the details, whether they will subsequently choose to pay this way, well your guess is as good as mine.

[Feen]

I think that asking customer to email you for your bank details if they want to pay that way may be the best compromise.

[dai]

I think that asking customer to email you for your bank details if they want to pay that way may be the best compromise.

That's what I did, they were really enthusiastic about it, but I'm still waiting for the first e mail, and there were at least 10 that said they would prefer to pay that way." there's nowt as queer as folk".

[Londoner]

Theres lots of theft in the Postal Service. Things like cheque books and cards get intercepted all the time. So much so that my new credit card was delivered by some sort of courier and had to be signed for.
People join the PO with the sole intention of stealing because of the rich pickings. The situation is made worse by the fact that a lot of the workers now are temps. I suppose this will get deleted because somebody will say its racially incorrect but the truth is that in London a lot of the scams involve Nigerian migrant workers.