Fair point...How they do it is an entirely different question, Jeff. Crooks and bad guys obviously have numerous ways they use to pull off their crimes.How would someone go about stealing my money by logging in to my account? If they redeem my holdings don't the proceeds just go to my bank account? Doesn't treasury require submitting paper documents in order to change the linked bank account?
The OP wanted to know what the law was IF it happened. Now he knows.
But to put the point in context, unless the "bad guy" has a way to access your bank account already on-file with Treasury Direct - it won't do them much good...
You can't simply go in and "change" or "add" a new bank account... People who have attempted to do so have realized that's a very restrictive process in Treasury Direct, sometimes even requiring you to get a "medallion signature" to prove you are who you say you are. People have complained about that being "too much overhead" - and "no one else" requires them to do that...
But that - IMHO - is kinda the point... Treasury Direct is arguably - by design - not very flexible about "where" the money can go... An attacker can't simply do a "two transaction verification" to add a different bank, they can't simply upload a bank statement to get it added. Any money they attempt to take out is going to your existing bank on file... (Or the institution that signed the "medallion signature" for someone impersonating you would be on the hook for the loss.)
Which "moves" the problem to your bank. If your bank account is authorized without your permission, and the money is withdrawn, who's responsible?
It's for this reason - I'm not overly concerned about Treasury Direct's viewpoint on this... Sure, I wish they had the "guarantee" like the used to with the paper bonds - that was obviously "better." But as I see, the most likely "worst" thing that happens is an attacker sells all my Savings Bonds - I end up hit with an unexpected tax bill - but the money is stilling in my bank account (and protected by my bank accounts protections/commitments/etc.).
Now, if TD ever starts making it "easy" to add/change bank accounts - that's a completely different situation...
Statistics: Posted by SnowBog — Thu Apr 11, 2024 5:09 pm — Replies 7 — Views 2124