*Loan,banking and credit>>>bank account

Subscribing to NY times- asking for bank account and routing #... safe?

I'm a little confused... they said I can pay by my bank account number on my check. But won't it be dangerous because I can just give the ny times another person's check number? And how come people say its dangerous to give out the account and bank number when its stated on the check! So does that mean you shouldn't give just anyone a check when you need to pay them because they can drain your account?

Not safe and probably not the New York Times. Legitimate businesses accept debit card payments and usually use a cutout, like paypal to limit their exposure to lawsuits.

Phishers usually pose as well known businesses, even to the extent of impersonating A bank's security dept. on the bank's virtual stationery and originating their e-mails from a valid e-mail account from that bank.

So, anytime you are reluctant to give out personal info, don't.

If they have your transfer number, they become liable if someone accesses their payments received records.

Should not be a problem. Like you said, anyone receiving a check from you has you acct number and routing number. They will not accept another persons checking acct number because they check the names against the numbers.
Normally, you should keep that type of information as secure as you would with your social security number. In this particular case, an entity such as the NY Times (although I don't deem them a credible newspaper) should keep that information strictly for billing purposes. The last thing you would want is for some scam-type of company access to that kind of bank information. They could invariably keep drafting from your account and it may result in overdraft charges. But that's not all... Whenever a merchant attempts to collect on what is supposed to be a valid transaction and there aren't enough funds to do so, they can come back and try again later AND submit a separate charge as a return fee for the transaction not having been able to get collected in the first place. All that is really is a returned check fee. It's just that when you see it in your account statement from your bank or possibly even your bank's online service, most people usually freak out because they have no idea what it really is. And yes, they CAN do this. It's up to you as the consumer to keep a watchful eye on your bank account and actually know who it is you are giving your account information to.
Seven years in banking.
Hi,

I pay many things online with my bank account and I also pay via check with my routing #. I have never had a problem! I check my account almost daily to insure that I do not have faulty charges and so far so good!

Just check your account online once or twice per week for piece of mind and hopefully, everything will work well for you!

But, I do most things online. Some people are still very concerned with these types of transactions!

Good luck!
That would concern me a bit. I enroll for that kind of payment with my credit cards and my bank accounts are linked together too. However I would take an extra step to verify that you are really subscribing directly to the NY Times before giving that info.
If you placed the call to subscribe it is probably okay, but if they called you then I would mail them a check.