In Serbia (eastern europe) a type of direct debit is realized in cooperation with the client's bank.
The service provider (this is usually used to automatically pay utility bills, rent and mobile/Internet bills) makes a "deal" with some banks, whereby the bank can store a number identifier and the service provider can tell the bank what amount to charge.
The safety part is, however, that the bank's client must obtain the identifier (usually account ID in the service provider's system) and give it to the bank, either with a written request or on the bank's online portal. Only then will the bank process the provider's charges to the client's account.
Disputes are not common and take a lot of time because an actual investigation is done, often times it is resolved in the provider's favor because the client did knowingly consent to the terms and did enter the identifier into the bank's system or give a written statement in the bank's offices.
In general, in this system it is impossible to charge someone without them agreeing that they want to be charged. If they do want to be charged however, and agree to the terms, you can charge them an unlimited amount, which they have to then dispute and provide evidence of unwanted activity. This happens rarely though, because such charges would cause extremely high fines to the service provider, due to gross negligence or malicious intent, whichever is applicable.
I do not know of any person that was "robbed"/scammed this way.
The service provider (this is usually used to automatically pay utility bills, rent and mobile/Internet bills) makes a "deal" with some banks, whereby the bank can store a number identifier and the service provider can tell the bank what amount to charge.
The safety part is, however, that the bank's client must obtain the identifier (usually account ID in the service provider's system) and give it to the bank, either with a written request or on the bank's online portal. Only then will the bank process the provider's charges to the client's account.
Disputes are not common and take a lot of time because an actual investigation is done, often times it is resolved in the provider's favor because the client did knowingly consent to the terms and did enter the identifier into the bank's system or give a written statement in the bank's offices.
In general, in this system it is impossible to charge someone without them agreeing that they want to be charged. If they do want to be charged however, and agree to the terms, you can charge them an unlimited amount, which they have to then dispute and provide evidence of unwanted activity. This happens rarely though, because such charges would cause extremely high fines to the service provider, due to gross negligence or malicious intent, whichever is applicable.
I do not know of any person that was "robbed"/scammed this way.