Banks transfers now easier, and riskier

Have you received a one-cent transfer to your bank account from an unknown source recently? If so, you’d better send it back right away, warns Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Munich-based daily has unmasked a new scam since Germany implemented the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD). Instead of making profits on transfers by holding up the money for several days, from now to 2012 banks are required to effect same-day transfers. The upshot: transfers are now fully automatic and account numbers are no longer checked to make sure they match the beneficiary’s name. So crooks can try using random number combinations to transfer a cent to an account for which they have made up any old name. If the transfer is not rejected, they can then make small withdrawals so as not to attract the account holder’s attention. In case of fraud, however, customers still have 13 months to file a claim for reimbursement.