Uploading ID documents to update bank account details.

[dmoreo2015]

 I am a buyer not a seller. Just now I resold an item "opened but not used". Ebay says I must update my bank account details or I wont get paid. To update my bank account I needto upload a scanned image of my drivers license or passport. I wont do this because of the risk of identity theft. Too many big companies get their customers' private details hacked.

What are my alternatives?

[countessalmirena]

OP, you’ve been an eBay member since at least 2012. Since then, eBay emailed (and sent messages to) every eBay member on numerous occasions, informing all members - buyers and sellers - of the change in how payments would be given out, and the ID requirements. I’m a buyer; I received every communication about these changes.

eBay also has a specific Help page covering this: https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/getting-paid/registering-seller?id=4792

It hadn’t been hidden away… although I would like to see it made impossible for someone to list an item for sale unless they were account- and ID-verified. 

eBay must verify anyone selling on eBay in this way. It’s now a legal requirement in Australia. If you were trying to sell on Amazon or Etsy or what-have-you, the same requirements are in place.

Is it a risk? Yes; there is always a risk of personal identity details being stolen. Companies holding that information have a duty to protect it, and they (obviously) take significant precautions to do just that. It’s damning and frightening that bodies which should have been fortresses have had customer data stolen - including government departments.

As individuals living in a time when personal data is stored on servers that only need a small vulnerability (usually software issue) or an authorised person who is tricked by a sophisticated infiltration (human error), we’re all potentially open to the problem of stolen personal information. Much of it is out of our hands — ATO, Medicare, MyHealth, our banks, councils, Centrelink, Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages — and some of it is pretty much unavoidable if we want to function in the modern world (library membership, employee information held by employer, university or school information, insurance information, drivers licence, telcos, and the list goes on and on and on).

I can really only avoid providing my information where I am not confident in the security of that information and the validity of its being required / trustworthiness of source. Don’t hand it over in situations where the likelihood is that it’s a scam. If my information is compromised in any other way (such a telco breach or ATO being hacked or some such thing), at least the remedies are undertaken and borne by the body concerned, and we saw an improvement in D/Ls as a direct result of one such breach.

Ultimately it’s your choice about whether you feel the risk of providing ID to eBay is too great to warrant selling on its platform. If you’re only a very sporadic seller, I may even agree that it’s really not worth it, as the holds on funds to be disbursed will probably be constant because you’ll never rise out of the “new seller” category.

But in terms of your data being at risk, I do doubt that providing the required ID to eBay adds significantly to that.

[sandypebbles]

You say you are a buyer not a seller, but then you say you re-sold an item

So you are a seller

And all sellers have to be signed up to Managed Payments (as you agreed to when you listed)

Managed Payments has been the only option for seller for well over 4 years now

This needs to be done before you sell

Not after the fact and say you don't want to do it 

[dmoreo2015]

Im never going to sell anything on ebay again - or buy anything. My drivers license has my photo, signature dob, address. Why should I trust this information to eBay when so many other big companies had their customer databases hacked or stolen.

[dmoreo2015]

Ebay should noot tell me after the fact that I have to provide this information. And dont tell me about the fine print.

[cam-2793]

Your alternative is to wait for the money to be transferred to ASIC! Could take a few years.

All unclaimed money's are required to be sent to ASIC after a certain period of time. To find your money( closed bank accounts etc) you can search here: https://moneysmart.gov.au

But bear in mind that to claim any money you will need to provide bank details and proof of identity - which you don't want to do!

Also any company operating in Australia is required by law to notify regulators and affected customers if there is a data breach so remedial action can be taken.

I can understand the concern as many businesses are not clear about how long they keep ID documents on file and in most cases once ID has been verified there is no need to keep it.

Every time you list an item for sale you need to agree that you have read and understood the Ts&C's of selling. We get a lot of people coming to the boards after they have sold needing help with verification. I personally think eBay should not allow anyone to list until after they have verified both ID and bank. It would save a lot of people a lot of drama. But then we would be inundated with people complaining "eBay won't let me sell".

[dmoreo2015]

EBay just stole $200 of my money which I will never see because it is not worth the risk of handing over my complete identity in digital form. I never agreed to provide that specific information when I put my item up for sale. It is criminal.

[cam-2793]

You did agree when you ticked the box that you had read, understood and agree to the terms and conditions!

[sandypebbles]

No matter how many times you say it, you did agree to the policy when you listed. How have eBay 'stolen' your money? cancel the sale, as you were advised twice to do yesterday

[dmoreo2015]

I was tricked. EBay put $0.01 into my bank account and put it back to verify the account but they won’t give me the $200 for the item I sold. As far as I am concerned that is theft even if it is in the fine print. Better still they should not have allowed the sale to take place until they had the paperwork they wanted. That is coercion because now they want me to jeopardise my life savings if I want to get the money. I would never do business again with such a tricky dishonest business.

[domino-710]

Ever occur to you to open a specific account to deal with online sales - not sure anyone who sells uses their main account.

[sandypebbles]

@Dom, I was going to suggest that yesterday, but given the comment they made about other members, I couldn't be bother. I doubt their wish will come true since nobody I know who it was launched at uses their main bank account either . Not even going to go into the 'being tricked' comment . Simply not worth it for someone who refuses to accept any kind of factual information

[dmoreo2015]

Hoe is another account going to help. EBay will still want my whole digital identity so some Romanian crime group can hack eBay’s customer database, empty all my bank accounts and commit any number of crimes in my name.

[dmoreo2015]

You are all eBay enthusiasts and probably read T&C for fun. Do you read the Microsoft or Apple agreement before every upgrade? Or do you assume they are not going to charge hidden fees or somehow take your money without giving you the upgrade.

[domino-710]

Try a different bank rather than the bank holding your life savings - then when they are hacked you only lose your $200. LOL

[dmoreo2015]

Not if they use my identity to find my other bank accounts.

[domino-710]

Not sure where you have been - but - mostt institutions ask for more than name & DOB & address these days to confirm identity - and have done for quite sometime.-

[dmoreo2015]

I don’t think you are qualified to advise me on how to keep my savings secure. There is a lot of information being bought and sold on the dark web and a photo of both sides of my license would be gold because they can combine it with all the other information. I had someone try to hack my share trading account but they couldn’t do the two factor authentication. Even with just my license they could probably set up an eBay account with maybe a slightly different address and buy or sell in my name. But the question is not how you think I could get around it, the question is that I have the right to decide if it is worth the risk of giving my license to this or that service provider and the fact that eBay is taking my money and saying you should have read the T&C. Most businesses would offer a way to resolve this and I could continue to buy but not sell. The correct answer to my question is that Gum Tree doesn’t require this amount of ID.

[domino-710]

You've just proven my point. lol

[dmoreo2015]

I would have thought eBay would be able to guarantee a successful and secure transaction but it let the sale go through even though it didn’t have the necessary documentation and I lost $200. That is the point. You can say I never bothered to read the T&Cs but at the end of the day EBay failed in its most fundamental duty.

[dmoreo2015]

Why would I trust it with my digital identity when it can’t do the one thing it is supposed to do?

[padi*0409]

You are a seller as well as a buyer, you've sold at least two items.

It's quite simple really, if you don't provide your bank A/C details and proof of identity you will not get paid for the latest item you've sold.

eBay is certainly not the only company to require proof of identity on their site, indeed it's a government requirement to do so.

Edit. G'day Sandy............snap.

[dmoreo2015]

Not helpful, I never agreed to provide my drivers license with my photo, signature, license number, DOB, address, before selling the item. Now I have to cancel the sale, wear the cost of postage and close my ebay account.

[padi*0409]

Yes you did, if you bothered to read the T&C's for selling, before you listed.

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/getting-paid/registering-seller?id=4792

[sandypebbles]

You did. You had to tick the box that said you had 'read and agreed to' or you would not have been able to list the item. You have been given factual answers. Yes, you are correct, you will have to cancel the sale or you will owe the fees for selling. eBay are not going to notice if you close your account or not. These rules and nothing new and you did agree to them. Regardless of if you *really* read what you ticked you had read. You want to say the responses are 'not helpful' how would it be helpful if other members did not point out the basic facts of what *everyone* has to do if the choose to sell on eBay?

[dmoreo2015]

I registered more than 10 years ago when the Terms and Conditions were different and there was no requirement for a copy of my drivers license.

[gutterpunkz05]

But you agreed to the terms, you read, about 7 days ago. At time of listing.

[dmoreo2015]

You are all eBay enthusiasts who probably read the T&C in bed. But I wonder if you read the Microsoft or Apple terms and conditions? Probably not. Because those companies are not going to take your money if you don’t get a lawyer to vet the agreement every time you install an update,

[countessalmirena]

Do I read T&Cs before upgrading or reinstalling or proceeding? Yes.

It’s not because I love doing so; in fact, I loathe it just as I loathe fine print and deliberate obfuscation and ridiculously convoluted phrases designed to impede rather than enhance understanding. By reading (and I have managed to simplify this process), I protect myself because I can make an informed decision about whether or not to proceed.

In terms of eBay’s requirements for selling, they’re complying with the relevant Australian laws. For instance, see https://www.austrac.gov.au/individuals/why-you-might-be-asked-id

You can still sell on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace without providing ID (for obvious reasons), but of course there are other risks involved - of which examples have been published in the news rather frequently of late.

[dmoreo2015]

Most people who trade on eBay could not understand most terms and conditions and Agreements. It is appalling that eBay does not offer a way to resolve this issue on a one off basis. I can't believe it is not within their power to make some sort of payment or credit. It just smacks of highanded contempt and lack of trustworthiness. They should never have let the sale go through.

[countessalmirena]

If eBay did, they would be breaking the law and facilitating money laundering. The ID requirement - if waived in circumstances that amount to “I don’t wish to provide my ID because it’s not safe” - would effectively be opened like a master key without a reason that would satisfy the relevant legislation. You can be upset over this but that’s unfortunately how it is. Criminals as it is already have enough ways of slipping through with fraudulent transactions as it is.

[dmoreo2015]

EBay failed to provide a safe and secure transaction., which I would have thought was fundamental to their business model.