why is not OK to send bank account info over email? [closed]

Question

I don't understand why I keep hearing that someone sent their bank account info (i.e. checking account number and routing number) to someone that turned out be a scammer, and they ended up draining their bank account. This makes no sense... those numbers are not secret... anyone I write a check to has those numbers... they are on the bottom of every check! Does this mean everyone that I write a check to has the ability to drain my bank account?

Answer 1

Generally, yes, anyone you give a physical check to could use your bank account through online services, although they'd likely be caught. For example, I pay many of my bills online through vendors that ask only for account and routing numbers, which you can get off a check.

The big no-no about doing it through email is because once it's digital, it's a lot easier for that info to be captured and spread around untraceably. In the end, though, paper checks are very much built on trust, just like when you give your credit card to the server at a restaurant (and you frequently hear about people's card numbers being stolen that way).

Sending account info through an email is like sending a check in the mail out in the open, or passing your check to someone in the street and asking them to take it to the bank for you. Every link between you and the destination mailbox can read your info unless it is encrypted.

Answer 2

anyone I write a check to has those numbers

quite so, but you do send a check in a sealed envelope and not as a post card, don't you? :)