Do I really have to give my social security number and my bank account number?

[KatyDee]

Hello everyone,

I'm a forex newbie. I am thinking about registering a live account with Oanda. On their application form, they ask two questions that are very very personal such as
1) Your social security number and
2) Your bank account number


I called Oanda today and I ask then if I can give my state id number instead of my social security number. They said that my application will not be processed if I don't give my ssn. I told them that I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable giving that kind of information. I also told them that I do not want to give my bank account number and they said that this is a required field because they need to know the kind of clients they are dealing with.

.....I need help. What do i do???

Thanks in advance,
Katy

[DRA]

Oanda already answer that question. I think this is common with all brokers, to protect fraud and money laundering a guess.

[rhodytrader]

Money laundering aside, the brokers are also required to provide you (and presumably file) a 1099 for the interest you make/pay on your account. As such they require your SSN.

[Yarcofin]

You need to give your SSN whenever you do anything that involves you and money, pretty much. You need it to open a bank account, every employer will ask you for one, if you set up an investment account they will do the same. Forex is no different.

As long as the site is legitimate and their information is secure, there should be no more of an issue than doing your banking. After all, many of the forex companies are, in fact, banks by definition.

If you aren't okay with that, then stick to demo accounts.

Alternatively if they are outside of the US they probably won't ask for SSN.... find a broker located in the UK or something and see if they don't ask. But personally I feel more safe giving out my SIN number to a Canadian/US company than I would giving my money to a foreign company without my SIN.

[daydreamer65]

Hello everyone,

I'm a forex newbie. I am thinking about registering a live account with Oanda. On their application form, they ask two questions that are very very personal such as
1) Your social security number and
2) Your bank account number


I called Oanda today and I ask then if I can give my state id number instead of my social security number. They said that my application will not be processed if I don't give my ssn. I told them that I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable giving that kind of information. I also told them that I do not want to give my bank account number and they said that this is a required field because they need to know the kind of clients they are dealing with.

.....I need help. What do i do???

Thanks in advance,
Katy

Can only agree with everything that has been said here,
these are both required fields for your security as well
as Oanda's security.

[Quexos]

Well as far as your bank account goes, they need it anyways because how else would they send you the money you make out of trades ?
As for a social security number, I am not American and I don't live in America so I hope they won't ask me for one cause I simply don't have one
they ask other types of ID over here when opening an ordinary account at a bank.

[KatyDee]

Thank you all for your responses

It does seem to make some sense that brokers need your SSN because one is earning income. I was very paranoid about giving my SSN because of the all news about identity theft and I am still am but not as much as before.

....In my personal opinion, I think that if I deposiit and withdraw my money by check, I should not have to give my bank account number. However if one wires his/her money to the forex account, it is obviously necessary.


Thanks again

[Kraven]

Thank you all for your responses
...In my personal opinion, I think that if I deposit and withdraw my money by check, I should not have to give my bank account number. However if one wires his/her money to the forex account, it is obviously necessary.


Thanks again

Just an fyi for you, most, if not all checks, have both your bank routing number AND your bank account number, listed on the bottom of the check.

[Simy]

Its worth noting that most fraud and identity theft isnt from them stealing your information from a company, its from them tricking you into giving it to them.

I've heard of people paranoid about Paypal, their own banks (they wont do online banking etc...) because of these issues. But as far as banks are concerned the information that a good hacker can get they can get with or without you, and with or without you using online service. Your bank uses a few systems like the internet (if not the internet with VPN) and anything on that same network (like ahem, ATMS) could be used to get in..


You may wonder then why dont they? The good hackers (good in skill) tend to be good morally. Not all but most of the best hackers tend to work for us not against us. Think about it like this -- Alot of them are running their own companys hacking legally into large companys computers. They get to 'play' and they make money LEGALLY. There are some so called 'black hat' hackers who are good too, but theres only so many tricks they can use, and banks tend to be paranoid.

This may or may not be true but I heard at one point it was easier to get into the governments systems then a large banks. Again -- don't know if its true.


Most of the ways identity theft happens is lying, or playing you to get your information.

Heres a couple quick examples:

I just 700 Million Euros from some international company, real check for 4,730 to cover legal expences and to *pay for* my entry.

I've never heard of this company, but this other company randomly selected my email address and entered me on my behalf.

Sounds great dosnt it? All i have to do is send them $3,000 or so back, the rest of the first check will be taken out of my winnings, great right? Yeah right, the check is a fraud and when an unspespecting person sends the money for the winnings, the check is in 'hold' status, meaning you may be able to spend the money, but you havnt gotten it yet.. then they get your money and right around then the check bounces. POOF you owe money if you didnt have the $3,000 in your bank account to start with, and if you did.. you just lost it.



You go in and login, but it dosnt work... ok at this point they allready have your login information, but sometimes they want more so they give you a customer service number to call, etc etc. then ask for personal information.

if you dont type it in, then dont enter your information there. Dont trust email, I dont have a bank account with suntrust, yet i occasionly get an email telling me that my balance is over due and I need to login online to correct my problem. Gee thats obviously a fake. but what if you did have a suntrust account? or they happend to get lucky?


If you need to call lookup the 1-800 number. Call at odd times, call multiple times in a row if its not a machine. I think everybank uses an automated machine, scammers tend to not be able to afford them or arnt smart enough to set them up.

Am I paranoid about my information? Not really, I'm selective on who I'll give it to, but not overly so. I wont fall for most scams because I dont do alot of sensitive information online! I get attempts at being scammed all the time. Go look up scam stories or some similar keywords and youl see it happens alot. Stay alert and cautious and youl be fine. If you want examples I'll Forward you some of my millon, billion or, trillion dollar winning emails.

Nothings free, and nothings easy. Forex isnt free or easy, you have to pay the price in knowledge one way or another (time counts as money) and its not easy, not really hard once you get going, but most things are like that!


Just my .02*a few extra words

[Simy]

I forgot about stealing CC #'s and check information from legitimate sources (eg stores you shop at) but thats a diffrent story!