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A man in west coast Austria wants to deposit money into my account. I'm in Alabama.

I had to get an online account. I did that, but he says his bank manager needs all this information:

  • DOB
  • SSN
  • online access username
  • online access password
  • security question and answer
  • bank name
  • bank address
  • bank number
  • person who is on the account
    • their name
    • their address
  • account no
  • routing no

OK. Is it safe to do this or am I being scammed? I don't want him to be able to end up withdrawing all my money instead of depositing money.

Jeff Schaller
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donna
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8 Answers8

310

You're most definitely being scammed. You're being asked all the information required to steal your identity and take over your bank account.

And Austria is land-locked, it has no west coast (or any coast, for that matter).

March Ho
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littleadv
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105

I wonder if your rational thinking is getting confused by the prospects of getting some deposit from that person?

He needs, amongst other things :

•online access username

•online access password

Ok, so you have 1000 in your account. They deposit 500 and you are happy. Then they take out all 1500 and you're done :) How can you not think it is a scam when you're giving them your login as well.

Here is an analogy. Some stranger asks you for keys of your home (while you're away) and tells you he will just go in place a gift inside your door and go away. Would you give him your keys and come home later expecting a gift to be there and nothing taken away?

Is it a scam if the person only wants to deposit into my account, not make a withdrawal?

Who is to tell?

P.S: Sorry, please don't mind the rest of this answer but from it could also be related to a new relationship that you are in. Going ahead with this might cause you a lot of emotional harm as well. You seemingly trust that person when there are obvious signs that you are being defrauded, possibly in the name of love.

Community
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Hanky Panky
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48

All that's needed to deposit into your account are two things

  • your account number
  • an international bank identifier

Bank identifier is could be SWIFT code, IBAN, or similar routing number. an ABA routing number a similar idendifier used by US banks.

It's a scam.

A variant scam deposits too much money in your account and then requests you repay the excess before canceling the deposit. If a stranger deposits money and then asks you to repay some. Do not do so. contact your bank instead.

Jasen
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34

It is a scam, other people have given lots of details why. But

online access password

Is ONLY of use to someone that wishes to steal your money. Just including it in the requested information is enough to make it clear it is a scam.

To deposit money into someone accounts only needs.

bank name (can be got from routing no)
bank address (can be got from routing no)
bank number (can be got from routing no)
person who is on the account
    their name
account no
routing no (called "sort code" in the UK)

And maybe (if the deposit is being pay by anyone that needs to report the payment to the government for income tax - at least in the UK)

  • DOB
  • SSN/NI

If the money is coming from a source that must report the payment for tax.

littleadv
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Ian
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12

Absolutely anyone who wants to put money into a stranger's account is a guaranteed scammer and most likely from Nigeria in reality. I know you probably felt like it was your lucky day but in fact it could have been your unluckiest day had you not asked on here, so good on you man. Whenever you're not sure about something just ask, that's what the internet is for, someone's always willing to help.

Matthew Read
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user30891
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Most answers to this question only address the issue of providing personal information to a scammer. But considering that a lot of questions without the personal information addition get closed as duplicates of this one, I would like to answer the question in the subject:

Why would a scammer deposit money in my account?

There are several criminal schemes which involve this.

  • Money laundering. The money comes from an illegal source. They send you money and ask you to transfer it to a different account. That way the money can no longer be traced back to the criminals. The criminals won't care if you keep the money, because they had no use for the dirty money anyway. However, the original owners and the police will care.
  • Advanced fee fraud. They bait you by promising you a lot of money. But then they find some excuses which require you to pay some money to them before this can happen (or to someone they claim to be someone else but actually is them). After you did that, you will never hear of them again.
Philipp
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5
  • Is it a scam if a stranger wants to do X to my account?
  • Yes. If anyone apart from your close family members want to do anything to your account, it's a scam. Or an extreme level of stupidity, you want to avoid both. Also, if it was them who said about west coast Austria, you can also make fun of them.
Karolina
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No. It most probably is not a scam. It most probably is something much worse. In a scam, you may lose some money. In a money laundering operation, you may end up spending prison time.

Imagine saying to the judge: "I did not do all of these illegal transactions, it was a total stranger who only wanted to borrow my account. I am totally innocent".

I would guess that your account would be used when scamming other persons or when transfering illegal money. The money would go into your account, and then sent further. It would to all aspects look like you are doing the scams.

ghellquist
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