Looks like a scam? - Page 2

blueturtle · #21 03.05.2021, 12:26

Just curious.

Can they scam via paper invoices? like an orange bill.

They can enter their own bank account number, but the name of some one you trust or very generic which you don't suspect.

I hope the banks check account number against name of beneficiary.

Should I check my paper invoices as well very (very) carefully?

newtoswitz · #22 03.05.2021, 13:27

	Quote:	blueturtle
	Just curious. Can they scam via paper invoices? like an orange bill. They can enter their own bank account number, but the name of some one you trust or very generic which you don't suspect. I hope the banks check account number against name of beneficiary. Should I check my paper invoices as well very (very) carefully?

"They" can scam you through any form of communication.

You should check every payment very very carefully.

bowlie · #23 03.05.2021, 13:39

	Quote:	blueturtle
	Just curious. Can they scam via paper invoices? like an orange bill. They can enter their own bank account number, but the name of some one you trust or very generic which you don't suspect. I hope the banks check account number against name of beneficiary. Should I check my paper invoices as well very (very) carefully?

Why would you pay a bill you didn’t recognise? The vast majority of my bills come via e-bill, very few by the post. If I received a paper bill from “Swisscom” I’d be immediately suspicious as they don’t send me bills via the post. Even so if I tried to pay to an unknown account the UBS would ask me to confirm via their verification system.

Yes, be careful, but don’t worry, scamming you this way is so unlikely to be succesful they likely won’t bother.

newtoswitz · #24 03.05.2021, 13:43

	Quote:	bowlie
	Why would you pay a bill you didn’t recognise? The vast majority of my bills come via e-bill, very few by the post. If I received a paper bill from “Swisscom” I’d be immediately suspicious as they don’t send me bills via the post. Even so if I tried to pay to an unknown account the UBS would ask me to confirm via their verification system. Yes, be careful, but don’t worry, scamming you this way is so unlikely to be succesful they likely won’t bother.

The success rate of most scams is very very low.

The trouble is, email costs them almost nothing, so when they send out a million emails they don't need a good success rate it's still 99.9999% profit.

At > 1 CHF per letter, physical mail wouldn't pay for bulk scams.

That said - still check! If they think they've already hooked you, paper mail could be a way of invoking more confidence and less care...

curley · #25 03.05.2021, 13:50

	Quote:	AbFab
	FYI (as reported in yesterday‘s Sunday Times) it works like this: You get an email from the Post/carrier etc asking you to pay a small amount. In order to do this you divulge your bank details. There is no package, so it never arrives. A few days later you get a call from the fraud dept of „your bank“ advising strange activity on your account. You check your account online and sure enough some standing orders or withdrawals for small amount that you don‘t know anything about. You panic, but „your bank“ has the answer: they have set up a new account for you to transfer all you money to. As soon as the money is in the new account in the name of Mr & Mrs Scammer, it‘s gone. This should theoretically by hard to do in Switzerland, but I bet the scammers found a way...

Now that I call efficient - why collect Fr. 2.90 endlessly

What I don't understand, with the theory that if I make a payment I divulge my bank details and therefore I've given way to fraud they basically claim that my landlord, the power-company, the handy/internet provider, the car mechanic, the tax-office .... who ever .... only doesn't steal from my account because they are such nice, honest people. And that is simply not true. (I mean, sure, they are all nice and honest but that's not why they don't empty my account

)

3Wishes · #26 03.05.2021, 20:22

	Quote:	bowlie
	Why would you pay a bill you didn’t recognise? The vast majority of my bills come via e-bill, very few by the post. If I received a paper bill from “Swisscom” I’d be immediately suspicious as they don’t send me bills via the post. Even so if I tried to pay to an unknown account the UBS would ask me to confirm via their verification system. Yes, be careful, but don’t worry, scamming you this way is so unlikely to be succesful they likely won’t bother.

Not everyone gets exclusively e-bills. OH says his grandmother paid every orange bill that came to her, without fail. She never paid any attention to the fact that many of them are from organizations that simply want money. If it was pre-printed with her name and an amount, she figured it was a bill she needed to pay. I imagine she's not the only elderly person who was "scammed" in this sense.