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Is it safe to give this information to someone?

  • Name of Account Holder:
  • Name of Bank:
  • Bank Account Number:
  • Address of the Bank Branch:
  • Bank Swift Code:
  • Phone Number of Account Holder:
  • Address of Account Holder:
  • Attach a scanned valid identity card of the account holder
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    This question needs some context. "Someone" as in anyone at all? Or are we talking about a more specific situation? – void_ptr Mar 10 '18 at 17:10
  • Someone wants to deposit to my account. I've spent days about this and found out that there is no risk at all, but I wanna know more about what you think about this issue. I'll appreciate it much. Thank you – Jade Dayto Mar 11 '18 at 15:06
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    Again it all depends on the context and on who is this someone. Was it via an unsolicited e-mail? Have you met this person IRL? Is there a legitimate reason for the deposit? By default, this is scam and this is not safe. If nothing else raises your alarm - scanned ID card? What is this for? Without more information, this is too broad. – void_ptr Mar 11 '18 at 19:18
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    Why does someone want to give you money? Context is everything here. – JTP - Apologise to Monica♦ Mar 11 '18 at 20:19
  • "I've spent days about this and found out that there is no risk at all" Curious that you've spent days researching this and not turned up anything suggesting there might be a risk here. Where have you spent these days searching? Did you go speak to a representative from your bank? Did you just google it? Are you relying solely on this "someone" telling you there's no risk? – Steve-O Mar 12 '18 at 17:26
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No, it is not safe to give this information to someone. This could be used to perform identity theft.

It may be appropriate to provide this information to a bank, of course. It all depends on who you are giving this to.

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  • Thank you for answering my question, please help me more by explaining how would they use the following info for identity theft. Thank you in advance. – Jade Dayto Mar 11 '18 at 15:08
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    @JadeDayto With this information, you could probably also withdraw money from the account. – chepner Mar 11 '18 at 22:11
2

Interesting - normally this type of info is needed for a money mule scam or a deposit scam.

In those someone deposits money and then the person with the account (who is generally helping to money launder funds) forwards a portion to another person (often overseas to help criminals).

In other cases the deposits bounce after being made, but the person had already forwarded a portion of the funds to someone else.

US-CERT has more guidance here:

https://www.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/publications/money_mules.pdf

In other cases if you have sold a home you may be asked basic banking information so the escrow company can deposit funds in your account, but it doesn't normally require things like scanned ID and swift code (red flag items). Many companies can just send a check which of course works well.

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