Comments on: “I Got Money That Doesn’t Belong to Me, BUT…”

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:56:00 +0000

Haha… best last line ever ;) Thanks for sharing this with us – a great reminder to always pay attention and don’t take anything that’s not yours!

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:17:53 +0000

I work for a bank as a manager and let me tell you… the errors do get caught and when the bank goes in to adjust the funds after you’ve spent the money, you are responsible for all the fees.

I had a college student who received a direct deposit for approx $4,000 into her account last year right around tax time. Around the same time, she was scheduled to receive a refund back from her school. Her and her mom saw the deposit, waited two days, and then took the money out of the account. Two weeks later, the deposit was attempted to be withdrawn back out of her account from the same company who put it in the account (a tax service). Because the funds could not be withdrawn (the money wasn’t there anymore), she was charged a $35 fee. This is what caught their attention and they came in to see me. Upon investigation, I noticed that the direct deposit that originally came into the account clearly had a different customer’s name on it. When I questioned them as to why they took the funds out when it obviously wasn’t their deposit, the mom made up a story and insisted I call the bank’s fraud department. It turns out, calling the fraud department caused the bank to release the $4,000 back to the tax service and consequently, the girl ended up owing the bank the $4,000 they took and she had to agree to a payment plan to pay it all back.

This wasn’t even a bank error. The tax service inverted the account numbers which happened to match this college girl’s account number. Mistakes happen and we’re all human.

So don’t spend money that’s not yours. This isn’t Monopoly.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:50:37 +0000

I think banks can undo and xfer stuff super easily – even if it was cash vs. check/etc. But I don’t want to find out the hard way! Haha…

By: Mike Collins

Mike Collins — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:04:08 +0000

Well it seems like the bank made her decision for her, but what if it was $1000 cash that she ended up with by mistake?? That would be a much trickier decision as she could easily get away with it. I wonder what people would do then.

By: Donna Thompson

Donna Thompson — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:54:27 +0000

She should still bring him to Small Claims Court for the $600 and court costs in trying to collect on a debt. If he’s in another State, where a local Small Claims Court can’t assist her, she can try one of the TV court shows.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:33:09 +0000

Thanks for all your opinions/thoughts guys – def. interesting stuff to read! Unfortunately I just got word back on what ended up happening, though, and it didn’t go in her favor :( Here’s what she emailed me:

“Well, he reported me to the fraud department at the bank, who in return froze my account. I was left with no option but to pay it all back or they would not release my account at all (so I couldn’t even get any of my own money). They gave me a deadline and would then call the police if I didn’t comply. It’s so so unfair as he still owes me that money, and that was my only chance off getting it back. Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles…” oh well thats the way the cookie crumbles…”

I know she appreciated your thoughts though – so thanks guys! Y’all had some great ideas, especially you @KimD, haha… and a few of you brought up good questions on how she knew it wasn’t on purpose or whatever, which I was also courious about. Hopefully she gets her money back at some point!!

By: B. (Below Her Means)

B. (Below Her Means) — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:29:20 +0000

*sings* Go on, take the money and run…

Sorry, what were we talking about?

By: Aloysa @ My Broken Coin

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:45:13 +0000

Interesting because I am wondering if her ex actually intended to give her $600 plus interest? I know, I know… what is the probability of that, right? I’d keep it all! Consider it $600 plus interest.

By: Kurt @ Money Counselor

Kurt @ Money Counselor — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:43:19 +0000

J., I’d close the account and transfer all the money in it to a new account at a different bank. Then I’d email the ex: “I got your $600 loan repayment at last, but I wasn’t expecting so much interest. Thanks!”

By: Shannon-ReadyForZero

Shannon-ReadyForZero — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:23:24 +0000

I used to work at a bank and we could deposit money from anyone into someone else’s account. We could NOT, however, give any information on the account. That meant we couldn’t tell the depositor the account number, balance, or anything else. We couldn’t even do a split deposit (where you have a check and deposit some of it and get the rest back in cash) because that would technically look like a withdrawal. If the depositor’s check is written on the same bank, then the teller can see if the funds are available right away and thus can make the deposit available immediately. If it’s another bank’s check, they just make a small amount (back then it was $100) available the first day and the rest after the check clears. The logic is, people can give whoever they want money, they just can’t ever take money out of an account that doesn’t have their name on it.

Is there any chance he did this on purpose because he knew he owed you money?