where can I go for advice

[JamesF]

Anyone who has ever issued a cheque has kindly given out their name, bank address, account number and then included a copy of their signature for good measure! Makes online banking seem a bit safer to me!!

Not forgetting sort code But yes, that is exactly my point. If it is really so risky to allow others to have access to the above details, why are people not screaming at the banks to stop issuing cheques and to re-issue a new account number for every single bank account for which a cheque book has been printed?

I'm not denying that people shouldn't keep personal data private (I strongly advocate the opposite and always have done) and some people have unfortunately had it demonstrated to them by less than pleasant means that we should all be a bit more careful about the information we allow others to know about ourselves, but there's a huge amount of hysteria been whipped up about the issue as well. Not that we should be surprised by that given the situation with fuel a couple of weeks ago. Sadly the default reaction of the British seems to be "panic first, engage brain later, perhaps".

James