A Man Walks into a Bank • Hacker News Board

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#41

Post by mikeash » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:25 PM UTC

petenixey wrote: post #10

This story was from a little while back but what's to stop you just printing a cheque from someone else and paying it into a bank today? There's no alerting to the originator that a cheque's been paid out and there are no obvious authentication tokens on the cheques. Frank Abignale only had to get past an initial look-test so what techniques protect against (and are consistently used) to prevent cheque forgery today?

I think the main thing is vigilance on the part of the supposed check writer. If you notice a check drawn on your account that you didn't write, you call your bank and get it reversed. Then they go after the depositor for fraud. It's nowhere near 100% reliable, of course, but the mere threat of prosecution helps keep it down. Keep an eye on your accounts....

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#42

Post by joakin » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:26 PM UTC

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Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#43

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:26 PM UTC

kitsune_ wrote: post #37

I live in continental Europe, can someone please explain the American cheque system to me? Is it still widely used? We have giro and SEPA transfers. If I want to transfer money to someone, I simply order my bank to withdraw said amount from my account and transfer it to the destination account. I could even do this without having a banking account. Anybody could walk to a post office or bank and pay into someone's ba…

In a lot of places, a check is just a payment order written on a standardized and somewhat convenient piece of paper. At least in Brazil, if I write the same text that's on a check and sign it, you can take that piece of paper to my bank and demand the money.

That said, it's been so long since I last used my checkbook, the bank changed its name and my account number since it was printed. And yes, they are still valid.

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#44

Post by melvinmt » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:27 PM UTC

kitsune_ wrote: post #37

I live in continental Europe, can someone please explain the American cheque system to me? Is it still widely used? We have giro and SEPA transfers. If I want to transfer money to someone, I simply order my bank to withdraw said amount from my account and transfer it to the destination account. I could even do this without having a banking account. Anybody could walk to a post office or bank and pay into someone's ba…

Wire transfer is the same as giro, except a single wire can cost you around $18 to send AND receive money while checks are always free (by law I guess).

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#45

Post by derda » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:27 PM UTC

It amazes me everytime, that in the US day-to-day banking still consists mostly of writing, sending and cashing cheques.

In germany (I dont know about the rest of Europe, but I guess the situation is similar), cheques are virtually non existent. You can still get and cash them, but you will get weird looks from the person behind the bank counter, most of the time there will be a hefty fee associated with it(I once cashed a cheque from an US-bases affiliate program and my bank charged me a ridiculous amount for the process).

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#46

Post by corin_ » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:28 PM UTC

joakin wrote: post #42

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What looks scary to you? Most sites give you cookies without asking you, so why is being told that it happens more scary?

Anyway, the reason for it is an EU directive, find out about it from the UK government branch tasked with these things, the Information Commissioner's Office: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electron...

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#47

Post by smackfu » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:32 PM UTC

kitsune_ wrote: post #37

I live in continental Europe, can someone please explain the American cheque system to me? Is it still widely used? We have giro and SEPA transfers. If I want to transfer money to someone, I simply order my bank to withdraw said amount from my account and transfer it to the destination account. I could even do this without having a banking account. Anybody could walk to a post office or bank and pay into someone's ba…

It's much less widely used than it once was, especially among younger folk. The only checks I write are to settle up personal debts between trusted folks, and that happens maybe once every 6 months and only if they don't have Paypal. Everything else is done via direct bank transfer or electronic bill payment.

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#48

Post by robbiemitchell » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:34 PM UTC

telemachos wrote: post #25

pavel_lishin wrote: post #20

I swear the entirety of this story used to be online. I suppose he took it off to help his sales, and I'm too lazy to find a cached version.

See three14's post[1] in this thread. He gives the link - the story is still online: http://www.goodthink.com/writing/view_stories.cfm?id=11&... [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4344785

The last page will try to sell you on the DVD. Just change the page_id to "16" to read the conclusion.

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#49

Post by veyron » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:35 PM UTC

derda wrote: post #45

It amazes me everytime, that in the US day-to-day banking still consists mostly of writing, sending and cashing cheques. In germany (I dont know about the rest of Europe, but I guess the situation is similar), cheques are virtually non existent. You can still get and cash them, but you will get weird looks from the person behind the bank counter, most of the time there will be a hefty fee associated with it(I once ca…

Checks are still useful because most online transfer mechanisms cost money. For example, my bank recently started charging for ACH transfers, and wires are always expensive.

Re: A Man Walks into a Bank

#50

Post by johnchristopher » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 1:36 PM UTC

derda wrote: post #45

It amazes me everytime, that in the US day-to-day banking still consists mostly of writing, sending and cashing cheques. In germany (I dont know about the rest of Europe, but I guess the situation is similar), cheques are virtually non existent. You can still get and cash them, but you will get weird looks from the person behind the bank counter, most of the time there will be a hefty fee associated with it(I once ca…

In Belgium as well. But when parents decided to sell my grand-parents' house located in France I heard a lot of cursing about the antiquated french cheque system and the administration being obsessed with it.