# Giving out bank account details to cold callers



## Usjes (21 May 2009)

Hi, 

I've just signed up for a cable TV contract with a cold-calling representative, it is probably all above board, but after he left it occurred to me that I had given out a lot of information over the phone. For the monthly direct debit they asked for my:
Name
Address 
Mother's Maiden Name
Account Number
Account Sort Code.

Is it safe to give out all these details, or could someone empty my account with them ?

Thanks,

Usjes.


----------



## thesimpsons (21 May 2009)

*Re: Giving out bank account details to strangers*

I'd be a bit nervous giving them out to a cold caller.  Probably good idea to phone the cable company and check out they are who they said they were.  In fairness, the caller could have been anyone


----------



## Brendan Burgess (21 May 2009)

Did he physically call to the door? 

Did he have ID? 

I would not do it on the phone - I probably would trust a representative from a major brand such as Sky.


----------



## Usjes (21 May 2009)

As it happens it was a Sky representative who called to the door, but I really don't see that that makes any difference, my question is, what are the minimum details someone would need to empty your account?  This guy had sky branded paraphenalia, and a photo id but in fairness I could mock up an equally impressive ID on the colour printer at work in all of 5 minutes. So the question remains, is the supplied data sufficient to clean our an account?


----------

