On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:10:31 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Cicero wrote:
You post your trivial grievances about Ebay

Not a grievance about Ebay but about probably youngsters standards of
writing.

to an un-related NG and in
the process you reveal your careless attitude towards personal identity
theft.

On the contrary. You have shown you don't know much about identity
theft, or are more likely scaremongering.

I offered a little bit of friendly and well-intentioned advice to which
you took exception for no apparent reason. You also wilfully made an
issue of a perfectly commonplace English expression in my post.

Eh? You suggested it was a new thing I should be aware of - having bank
sort code and account number on a cheque. I simply pointed out it
wasn't.


You showed the same kind of prickly attitude towards a similar bit of
advice from another poster.

Prickly? You mean disagreeing with a view?

Today's news is carrying an item about identity theft using information
and signatures provided by the Land Registry. Identity theft is big
business and it's people with your complacent attitude who feel the
sting.

If you can't send a personal cheque to *anyone* with safety the business
world would collapse. I'm all for being careful but there are limits.

BTW it could well be the people I'm complaining about have not given
their addresses to Ebay for your sort of fears.

==================================
There is nothing in my post remotely suggesting that cheques bearing
banking details is something new. I merely pointed out that when you sent
your cheques you had provided all your details, including a sample
signature, to people who declined to provide their details to you for
electronic transfer. It's quite likely that they declined because they're
safety conscious, but they might equally have criminal motives.

Comparing Ebay transactions with payments to more traditional businesses
is not very convincing. One has a far more realistic chance of checking
the status of a traditional business than those trading on Ebay. Ebay is
littered with people no longer trading. Neither the police nor Trading
standards are very much interested in Ebay activity and that's why
individuals need to protect themselves.

I advised caution and the need for that advice is confirmed by the sheer
volume and scale of identity theft and general fraud. It's difficult
enough to convince 'authority' of one's true identity even when there is
only simple error concerned, let alone trying to reclaim a stolen
identity.

Cic.

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