[thaumasiotes]

> It amazes me that in 2020, we still struggle to implement a simple system where someone can reliably and permanently transfer money to someone else as the default, expected behaviour of the financial system.

Did you ever wonder why many transactions will accept money orders, but not checks?

The system is in place, and has been forever. It just isn't checks.

[Silhouette]

The problem is widespread around the world, and exists in different variations in different countries. And then even more variations if you're trying to transfer money internationally.

Part of that problem is the continued existence of insecure-by-design systems that should have been forcibly retired many years ago. Another part is that even where safer alternatives exist, as this very story unfortunately demonstrates, it's all too easy for an honest person to be misled about whether they are using one of them.

Both of these problems are directly attributable to the financial services industry, which continues to make a fortune from the status quo even as lives get ruined and businesses go under as a result of preventable crime. Sadly, I can't see this changing until someone in a national government grows enough of a spine to regulate the industry properly, by which I mean setting out a realistic timetable for fixing the problem and then imposing crippling fines on any banks and other professional actors that don't step up.